On Sunday, March 7, Oprah Winfrey had the opportunity to interview Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on CBS. Winfrey spoke with Markle about a wide-range of questions regarding her life, stepping in as a member of the Royal family, motherhood, as well as other topics. 

Winfrey spoke with Meghan alone for the first half of the interview, and they were later joined by Prince Harry. The highlighted parts of the interview were about mental health, finance, the family, racism, and the backlash of tabloids. 

According to CNBC, there were about 17.1 million viewers that tuned in for the interview, and Prince Harry and Meghan were not paid to take part in the interview with Oprah Winfrey.

During the interview, Meghan began to talk about her mental health and how she was contemplating suicide while taking on her royal duties and dealing with the press. “I knew that if I didn’t say it, I would do it. I just didn’t want to live anymore,” Meghan told Oprah. Meghan and Harry continue to say that they didn’t receive any adequate support from the royal family even after Meghan expressed her concerns.

Harry talked about his father, Prince Charles, “I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar,” Harry said. Harry’s comment was referring to his mother, Princess Diana, and how the media was always hounding her. Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in 1997 while she was fleeing from photographers.

Meghan and Harry both told stories of the interaction before and after stepping down as senior royals with the Queen. The couple continued to make distinctions between the opinions of the queen and the opinions of “the royal family.” Meghan stated that the royal family did nothing to correct the false information regarding her in the media, which included her behavior, how she bullied her staff, and even supposed backlash with her sister-in-law, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Meghan states that the royal family was “willing to lie to protect other members of the family, but they weren’t willing, to tell the truth, to protect me and my husband.” When the media reports were released, no one in the royal family made any effort to correct the assumptions.

Moving forward, Meghan talked about racism, which she has faced through the media and tabloids from the beginning of her relationship with Harry. In the interview with Oprah, Meghan seemed to imply that her race has affected her relationship with the royal family. Prince Harry and Meghan believe it may have been a contributing factor that their son, Archie, did not get granted a title or provided security protection when he was born. Harry expresses his concerns about conversations he had with a member of the royal family. Meghan states, “We have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

Harry stated, “My family literally cut me off financially.” During the interview, Oprah wanted to know when did this start. Harry responded with “the first half, the first quarter of 2020.” Following their departure from the royal family, Harry and Meghan moved to the United States without any support from his family. Harry told Oprah, “I’ve got what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this, so touching back on what my mother would think of this, I think she saw this coming. I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process.” Harry continued to talk about his mother and about the similarities to her that Meghan has faced. “You know, for me, I’m just relieved and happy to be sitting here, talking to you with my wife by my side because I can’t begin to imagine what it must’ve been like for my mother going through this process by herself all those years ago,” Harry said. “My biggest concern was history repeating itself.”

This interview brought up issues that have occurred within the royal family for generations. Oprah’s questions shed light on many topics that the public has wondered about the couple and the larger family.