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Meghan Markle Says Royal Family Expressed Racist Concerns About Archie's Skin Colour

The Duchess of Sussex also said her son with Prince Harry was not offered a title or protection by the British royal family.

In a remarkably candid interview with Oprah Winfrey Sunday night, Meghan Markle revealed that the royal family had “concerns and conversations on how dark his skin might be when he was born.”

Markle said that conversations were relayed to Prince Harry from members of the family. When Oprah asked who was facilitating those questions, Markle refused to answer.

“I think that would be very damaging to them,” Markle said.

The last few months of the Markle’s pregnancy with her first child with Prince Harry were engulfed in controversy over the royal family deciding not to grant Archie a title of prince or to give him protection. Markle said there was no explanation for why their son would not receive the same treatment as other grandchildren.

“The most important title I will ever have is mom,” Markle said. “The idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea that the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be. The other piece of that conversation; there’s the George V or George VI convention that when you’re the grandchild of a monarch, so when Harry’s dad becomes king, automatically Archie and our next baby would become prince or princess or whatever they’re going to be.”

Meghan talked about the importance of representation, mentioning her travels through the Commonwealth and how men and women talked about how happy they were to see someone who looked like them in her position. The royal family’s disparaging remarks about Archie’s skin color were hard for her to understand, she said.

“I could never understand how it wouldn’t be seen as an added benefit and a reflection of the world today, especially right now, to go how inclusive is that that you can see someone who looks like you in this family, much less someone who was born into it,” she said.

Bombshells from Oprah, Harry and Meghan’s interview:

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