On Sunday, March 7, 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a shocking interview, which was viewed by 17.1 million people on average. The interview exposed the hardships that Meghan Markle was forced to endure when she married the British prince. 

Harry and Meghan have been getting the world’s attention for some time now. On January 8, 2020, the couple announced that they would be stepping down as senior members of the royal family. They relocated to the United States and have been living here since then. What was unclear at the time was why they chose to step away. 

The first part of the interview was just Meghan and Oprah. Meghan opened up about the struggles that came along with marrying the prince. Meghan talked about how she had no training for how to act as British royalty. She was given little to no guidance when it came to traditions or customs that the royal family has. Meghan was left completely in the dark. 

To add to all of that, the press was cruel to Meghan. Anything she did would receive harsh critiques from British reporters and tabloids. “The Firm,” as Meghan called the senior royals, as well as managers of royal affairs, did nothing to support her as she was ridiculed by the press. 

Another issue that was brought up during the interview was Meghan and Harry’s son, Archie. Meghan is mixed-race, and, during her pregnancy, there were conversations between others in The Firm about how dark Archie’s skin would be. Both Harry and Meghan refused to give names as to who were having these conversations. 

Nonetheless, these conversations reveal how racist The Firm is. Even after Archie was born, the problems continued. Archie was denied a royal title for no given reason. Without a royal title, Archie was given no security team. This left Harry and Meghan’s son unprotected. 

All of this stress and harm took a toll on Meghan. During the interview, Meghan opened up about her struggles with suicidal thoughts. “I didn’t want to be alive anymore,” she said. 

Meghan recalls how afraid she was during this. When asked why she didn’t seek help, Meghan’s response was appalling. Officials told her that if she were to seek help, it wouldn’t look good for the family. Essentially, she was denied help for a serious issue to keep up an image. 

She told Harry right before an event that they were going to. Harry had wanted her to stay home, but Meghan feared for her safety if she were to be left alone. 

Harry joined the interview after Meghan, and gave more insight to what was happening within the British royal family. Harry talked about how trapped he felt within “the system”, as he referred to it. He opened up about how his father, Prince Charles, hadn’t been taking his calls for quite a while. Harry also revealed that his relationship with his brother, Prince William, is also strained. 

Meghan gave one final takeaway to viewers: “You have no idea what’s going on for someone behind closed doors, so have compassion.”