HALF LIFE
Oprah reveals Meghan Markle told her in 2018 she was ‘advised’ to be ‘half herself’ after joining the Royal Family
MEGHAN Markle was "advised to be half herself" shortly after joining the Royal Family, Oprah Winfrey has claimed.
The talk show queen today revealed that the Duchess of Sussex had confided in her in 2018 about the alleged comment on keeping a lower profile as she reacted to last night's bombshell tell-all chat during an interview with CBS.
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Meghan, 39, was reportedly advised to be "50 per cent less" by royals after she married Prince Harry, Oprah told CBS This Morning.
Oprah did not reveal, however, who had made the alleged remark as she recalled the conversation she had with Meghan back in 2018 on the US breakfast show.
"She had just joined the royal family and she shared a conversation with me then that made me feel somewhat disheartened," she told the programme.
"She said she had been told, been given advice, that it would be best if she could be 50 per cent less than she was. That was the quote, if she could be 50 per cent 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 also said during her interview reflecting on the chat that Prince Harry insisted it wasn't the Queen or Prince Philip who expressed concern about Archie's skin colour.
Meghan said there had been conversations with Prince Harry and a "family" member about their unborn son and what colour his skin would be - and "what that would mean or look like".
But Oprah confirmed that it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh who made the alleged racist comment - according to Harry.
She said: "He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother or grandfather that were part of those conversations.
"He did not tell me who was a part of those conversations."
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This morning, royal expert Chris Ship also confirmed that the allegations did not stem from conversations with the Queen and Philip.
He told Good Morning Britain: "It was a conversation that Harry had with his family members.
"I should be clear here, I've been told it's not the Queen, and it's not the Duke of Edinburgh.
"So that only leaves two family members.
"The two people you are left with is either his father Prince Charles or his brother Prince William or their wives.
"That's pretty serious.
"They protected the Queen throughout this.
"But equally they are criticising the institution of which she is head, and therefore you're criticising his grandmother the Queen."
Oprah Winfrey said the full interview was three hours and 20 minutes long and was edited down to one hour and 25 minutes for the US broadcast - and the most important question she wanted to answer was "why did they leave?"
She added: "The stories about blindsiding the Queen were very damaging to them and hurtful to them, there had clearly been months and months of preparation before they moved to Canada."
Speaking to Oprah, Meghan said the concerns had been raised at the same time that the future parents were told Archie would not receive security as he was not a prince.
The Duchess shared her upset at the "idea of the first member of colour in this family, not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be".
"It's not their right to take it away," she added.
She said: "All the grandeur around this stuff is not really important to me.
"But in those months when I was pregnant, all around same time: we have in tandem he won’t be given security, a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born."
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, Meghan said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”
Prince Harry confirmed he had been involved in the conversations but said he would never share the details.
He said: "At the time it was awkward but I was a bit shocked.";
Oprah had introduced the interview - confirming that "no subject is off limits" and that Meghan had not been paid for the chat.
And the chatshow queen said: “How do they explain to you that your son, the great grandson of the Queen, wasn’t going to be a prince?
“You certainly must have had conversations with Harry about it and had your own suspicions as to why they didn’t want to make Archie a prince.”
Meghan replied: "That was when they were saying they didn't want him to be a prince or a princess."
This morning, Minister for Children Vicky Ford has said there is "no place for racism in our society" after the Duchess of Sussex said an un-named royal raised concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin tone might be before he was born.
She told BBC Breakfast she had not seen the interview but added: "There's no place for racism in our society and we all need to work together to stop it."
During the bombshell interview, Meghan broke down in tears as she revealed she told Prince Harry she "didn’t want to be alive anymore".
She added she had suicidal thoughts in the shocking tell-all interview with Oprah.
The Duchess said she begged for help from the Firm after struggling with her mental health - saying it was her husband who "saved" her.
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But in the explosive interview, the 39-year-old said she had been told she would not be able to seek help as it "wouldn't be good for the institution."
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Breaking down in tears, pregnant Meghan said: "I just didn't see a solution.
"I didn't want to be alive anymore."
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