HARRY and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey seems to be all anyone is talking about this morning, among those who support the royals and those who don't.
The two-hour programme was branded “explosive” as the couple accused an unnamed member of the royal family of making a racist comment about their unborn son, and told of how the system leaves people “trapped”.
Winfrey was left open-mouthed when the duchess – the first mixed-race member of the modern monarchy – said a fellow royal was worried about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone could be.
Meghan also spoke on her mental health, saying she reached a point where she did not want to be alive anymore. She reached out to “the institution” for help, but was told doing so “wouldn’t be good for the institution”.
READ MORE: Pressure on palace to respond to Harry and Meghan's racism accusations
She spoke of how she did not feel protected by the institution and was frustrated by their supposed failure to step in and correct the record on stories which were damaging to her.
Harry explained the view within the monarchy was that everyone went through the attacks from the press. He also spoke of how he became estranged from his father, who at one point stopped taking his calls.
At the time of writing Buckingham Palace is yet to respond to the allegations made during the interview, which was watched by more than 11 million on ITV but many more around the world.
Palace officials had reportedly prepared a statement, but it was not signed off by the Queen who wanted more time to consider her response.
The couple’s allegations of racism caused frustration among the UK press, with the Society of Editors saying in a statement that it was “not acceptable” for them to claim parts of the British media is bigoted.
During the programme, Winfrey had asked if the pair left the UK because of racism. Harry told the interview it had been “a large part of it”, along with a perceived lack of support from the royal institution.
Executive director Ian Murray commented: “The UK media is not bigoted and will not be swayed from its vital role holding the rich and powerful to account following the attack on the press by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“It is not acceptable for the Duke and Duchess to make such claims without providing any supporting evidence.
“If it is simply the case the Sussexes feel that the press by questioning their actions and commenting on their roles when working as royals funded by the taxpayer were being racist then they are mistaken.”
Meanwhile there was little support for Meghan and Harry on the front pages of the UK’s biggest papers.
The Daily Mail splash reads: “What have they done?” along with the subheading: “Toxic accusations. Incendiary racism claims against their family. Palace left reeling and Queen, 94, in emergency talks.”
The Mirror shows a picture of the couple sat together during the interview with the headline: “Worst royal crisis in 85 years.”
The Daily Express says there is “turmoil at the palace”, and shows a picture of the Queen with the headline: “So sad it has come to this.”
The Daily Telegraph shows a picture of teary Meghan wiping her eyes, with its headline focusing on praise for her from the White House. Yesterday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki praised Harry and Meghan’s courage when asked if US President Joe Biden had watched the interview.
Psaki told journalists: “For anyone to come forward and speak about their own struggles with mental health and tell their own personal story, that takes courage.”
The Guardian shows four stills from the lengthy programme with the headline: “Palace in crisis following devastating racism claim”. This was very similar to the front pages of The Times and The Independent.
The Daily Star went with a picture of a blurry TV screen and the headline: “Our telly broke at 8.59pm last night. Did we miss anything?”
The Sun asks: “Who is the royal racist?” Harry and Meghan had declined to reveal the identity of the person who made comments about their unborn son’s skin colour, but later clarified it was not his grandmother or grandfather.
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