[ad_1]
Meghan and Prince Harry have been at the centre of unprecedented interest and controversy since their decision to step down from the Royal Family. The couple have since spoken openly about their struggles behind Palace walls. Harry, in particular, has recently disclosed how being a royal affected his mental health and argued that his childhood suffered as a result of the way the Queen and Prince Philip brought up his father, Prince Charles.
The Sussexes reserved their most explosive claims for a tell-all interview with US TV legend Oprah Winfrey in March.
Here, Meghan claimed she felt suicidal but was told by the Palace that she couldn’t seek help.
The couple also claimed that an unnamed member of the Royal Family made racist comments about the colour of baby Archie’s skin tone.
And, although the interview received a mixed reception in the UK, the Sussexes sparked widespread outrage in the US.
There were calls to “finish what the American revolution started” and “burn down” the monarchy from enraged Americans on social media.
Serena Williams, the US tennis star who co-hosted the Duchess’s baby shower in 2019, said Meghan was a victim of “systematic oppression”.
She said: “Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life – and leads by example – with empathy and compassion.
“She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she’s experienced.
“I know first hand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of colour to minimise us.”
READ MORE: Prince Harry’s Apple TV+ appearance ripped apart: ‘Narcissism!’
Jon Favreau, former US President Barack Obama’s speechwriter, said: “No one can interview like that. Insanely talented.”
However, to say that this view is shared unanimously across the US would be misleading.
Maureen Callahan, a journalist writing in the New York Post, brutally tore apart several of Meghan’s claims shortly after the interview aired.
She described some of the claims as “whoppers”, particularly Meghan’s opening statement: “I wasn’t planning to say anything shocking.”
Ms Callahan wrote: “Please. As we all know, Meghan’s not that good an actress. Or a dissembler.
“‘All the grandeur attached to this stuff’, said Meghan, has never meant anything, not part of the attraction at all.
“Says the woman who invited Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney to her wedding — A-listers she’d never even met.”
And back in the UK, Ms Winfrey’s interviewing techniques did not impress British media figures.
GB News chairman Andrew Neil argued that Ms Winfrey “never pushed” the Sussexes to explain whether any of their claims were true.
He told BBC Radio 4: “It is dynamite as an interview, it’s a global news story.
“I think it is more damaging to the Royal Family than the Diana interview because it is a much bigger issue.
“Diana’s interview was basically about this rather dysfunctional Germanic family that she had married into, incapable of showing emotion, that had driven her to divorce and all the rest of it. It was a personal story.
“Of course, Oprah Winfrey never pushed them to determine whether it was true or not, to push them on the issues and do a proper job as an interviewer as opposed to saying ‘here’s a softball, down the leg side, whack it for six.'”
[ad_2]
