Meghan Markle claims the royal family was concerned about how dark Archie's skin would be

Meghan Markle nearly left Oprah speechless in an interview that aired on CBS on Sunday, when she made not-so-veiled allegations of racism within the royal family. Meghan, who is of mixed race, claimed that when she was pregnant with her and Prince Harry’s first child, Archie, a member of the family expressed concerns to Harry about the possibility of their child having a dark skin tone. On top of that, Meghan said she and Harry were told that Archie, the first person of color born into the royal family, would not be getting the traditional titles he normally should receive, and he would not enjoy the security a royal baby would normally receive.

Asked if the family was concerned that if Archie was too dark, that would be a problem for the family, Meghan replied, “I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one.”

Video transcript

MEGHAN MARKLE: So we have in tandem the conversation of you 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.

- Meghan Markle nearly left Oprah speechless in a wide ranging and deeply personal interview that aired Sunday night on CBS, particularly, when Markle, who is of mixed race, alleged that a member of the royal family expressed concerns to Prince Harry about the possible skin tone of their first child Archie.

OPRAH WINFREY: Hold up. Hold up. Stop right now.

MEGHAN MARKLE: There were several conversations about it.

OPRAH WINFREY: There's a conversation with you--

MEGHAN MARKLE: With Harry.

OPRAH WINFREY: --about how dark your baby is going to be?

MEGHAN MARKLE: Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.

- Given the conversations about her son's skin tone and the fact that Archie was not going to be given the traditional titles, Markle left very little doubt about what she was alleging.

MEGHAN MARKLE: It was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalized conversations.

OPRAH WINFREY: Because they were concerned that, if he were too brown, that that would be a problem. Are you saying that?

MEGHAN MARKLE: I wasn't able to follow up with why. But if that's the assumption you're making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one.

- Viewers took to Twitter to voice their disbelief. One viewer tweeted, I can't believe the institution was this pressed over babies that are one quarter black. I can, but I can't. Another shocking revelation came when Markle admitted to having suicidal thoughts early in her marriage as she was being constantly attacked by the British press.

- I just didn't want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear, and real, and frightening, constant thought.

- But, Markle did not get the response she had hoped for when she reached out for help, prompting one viewer to tweet, that hurt my heart.

- I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that I've never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution.