Meghan Markle has revealed a member of the royal family had “concerns and conversations” about how dark the colour of Archie’s skin might be when he was born.
The shocking revelation was made by the Duchess of Sussex during her and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired in the US on Sunday night.
Meghan refused to name the member of the royal family but said that conversations were relayed to Prince Harry.
“I think that would be very damaging to them,” Meghan said.
Prince Harry also said he would not reveal what transpired in the conversation about Archie’s skin colour with other members of the royal family.
“That conversation I’m never going to share,” he said. “At the time, it was awkward. I was a little bit shocked.”
Meghan also discussed the royal family’s decision not to grant her and Harry’s son Archie a title of prince or to give him protection.
She said there was no explanation for why their son would not receive the same treatment as other grandchildren.
“The most important title I will ever have is mom,” Meghan said. “The idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea that the first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.
“The other piece of that conversation; there’s the George V or George VI convention that when you’re the grandchild of a monarch, so when Harry’s dad becomes king, automatically Archie and our next baby would become prince or princess or whatever they’re going to be.”
Meghan went on to talk about the importance of representation and how the disparaging remarks about Archie’s skin colour were hard for her to understand.
She explained: “I could never understand how it wouldn’t be seen as an added benefit and a reflection of the world today, especially right now, to go how inclusive is that that you can see someone who looks like you in this family, much less someone who was born into it.”
In an interview with CBS This Morning on Monday, Oprah said Prince Harry had subsequently told her off camera that neither the Queen or Prince Phillip were involved in the conversation about Archie’s skin colour.
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.”
CBS Presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry airs on ITV at 9pm tonight and on ITV Hub