Meghan Markle Tells Oprah: ‘I’m Still Standing’
Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on A CBS Primetime Special
In a highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle frankly discussed their lives with the Royal Family. As hyped, the interview had a number of “reveals.” Winfrey began the interview, which aired on CBS (and was given two hours of air time), by saying that there was no pre-interview agreement, there was no subject off limits and that the couple were not getting paid for the interview.
Markle admitted that she considered suicide as a result of how she was treated by the British tabloids, as well as what she felt was the lack of support from the Royal Family, or the “firm.”
Markle and Harry revealed that they are having a girl this summer and that they’re stopping at two children.
Among some of the other revelations:
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- Harry said that his relationship with his brother, Prince William, is strained, he loves him “to bits.” “The relationship is space at the moment… time heals all things, hopefully.”
- Meghan said that her one regret was “Believing them [the Royal Family] when they said I would be protected.” Harry noted that he was disappointed that the family didn’t show more support for her in light of the press’s was of addressing her race. “For us, for this union and the specifics around her race, there was an opportunity — many opportunities — for my family to show some public support. And I guess one of the most telling parts and the saddest parts, I guess, was over 70 female members of Parliament, both Conservative and Labour, came out and called out the colonial undertones of articles and headlines written about Meghan. Yet no one from my family ever said anything. That hurts.”
- The Royal Family cut the couple off, financially. The couple have deals with Netflix and Spotify that were not “part of the plan” when they left the family, and that they lived off of Harry’s inheritance from his mother, the late Princess Diana. “I’ve got all my mum left me. And without that, we would not have been able to do this. She saw it coming and I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process.”
- Harry revealed that there was concern about their first child’s skin color when Meghan was pregnant. “That conversation, I am never going to share,” Harry said. “At the time, it was awkward, I was a bit shocked… It was right at the beginning. What will the kids look like? That was at the beginning when she wasn’t going to get security, when my family suggested that she might continue acting,” so that she could continue to earn her own money.
- Meghan admitted that she had suicidal thoughts. “I was really ashamed to say it at the time, and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially, because I know how much loss he has suffered, but I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it — and I just didn’t want to be alive anymore… It was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. I remember how he just cradled me, and … I went to the institution, and I said I needed to go somewhere to get help … and I was told that I couldn’t.” However, she ended her one-on-one segment with Oprah saying, “But I’m still standing, and my hope for people in the takeaway from this, is to know that there’s another side: to know that life is worth living.”
Brian has been working in pop culture and media for about three decades: he’s worked at MTV, VH1, SiriusXM, CBS and Loudwire. Besides working as a writer and an editor-in-chief, he’s also appeared on air as a pundit, guested on radio shows and hosted podcasts. Over the years, he’s interviewed the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, the members of U2, Beyonce, Pink, Usher, Stevie Nicks, Lorde… and is grateful to have had the chance to interview Joe Strummer of the Clash and Tom Petty.