Meghan Markle was advised “it would be best if she could be 50% less” shortly after joining the Royal Family, Oprah Winfrey has said.
Speaking the morning after her interview with the Duchess of Sussex aired in the US, Oprah recalled a conversation she had with Meghan in 2018, that the presenter said left her feeling “disheartened”.
Oprah told CBS’ This Morning: “She had just joined the Royal Family and she shared a conversation with me then that made me feel somewhat disheartened.
“She said she had been told, been given advice, that it would be best if she could be 50% less than she was. That was the quote, if she could be 50% less.
“I remember hearing that in 2018 and I said to her, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to survive, being half of yourself’.”
Oprah recently spoke of how Meghan had to turn down a previous chance of an interview with her, prior to her wedding to Prince Harry nearly three years ago, claiming it was “not her choice to make”.
The pair eventually sat down together, along with Harry, for an interview shown on US television on Sunday night, in which Meghan candidly opened up about feeling suicidal during her time as part of the Royal Family.
She also revealed a member of the family had “concerns and conversations” about “how dark [their son Archie’s] skin might be” when he was born.
While the pair did not name who had made the racist comments, Oprah also told CBS’ This Morning that Harry had told her off camera that neither the Queen nor Prince Phillip were involved.
She said: “He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure that I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother nor his grandfather [who] were a part of those conversations.
“He did not tell me who were a part of those conversations – as you can see, I tried to get that answer, on camera and off.”
During the couple’s interview, Harry also revealed that his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking calls from him following his and Meghan’s decision to step down from their roles as senior royals.
CBS Presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry airs on ITV at 9pm tonight and on ITV Hub.