PALACE PAIN
Prince Harry ‘pressed nuclear button on his family’, say royal insiders who stayed up until 3am to watch Oprah interview
PRINCE Harry pressed the "nuclear button" on his family in the explosive Oprah interview, royal insiders claimed overnight.
Royal staff reportedly stayed up until 3am to watch the tell-all chat that saw Meghan Markle reveal she had struggled with suicidal thoughts until husband Prince Harry "saved" her by quitting the Firm.
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The interview was first aired in the US - in the early hours of Monday morning in the UK - before being broadcast to British TV screens on ITV on Monday night.
Senior members of the Royal Family - including the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William - were said to be locked in crisis talks over the Oprah interview.
A royal insider that Harry had pressed the "nuclear button on his own family" with the two-hour interview.
But sources claimed there was a sense of "intense personal shock and sadness" - with the palace said to be paralysed with "horror and dismay".
They said: "There’s a lot people want to say but no one wins with a tit-for-tat battle. Bridges need to be built after all this is over, after all."
It comes as...
- The Queen was said to be in crisis talks over the interview
- Meghan Markle is reported to have slammed the door in Kate Middleton's face when the duchess tried to apologise over an incident over flower girl dresses
- ITV Hub crashed as the interview was broadcast on the UK screens
- Oprah revealed Prince Harry insisted the Queen and Prince Philip were not the Royals who expressed concerns about Archie's skin colour
- A new photograph of the couple with Archie was released
- Thomas Markle will be interviewed on GMB
- Harry and Meghan held a private 'exchange of vows' before their wedding
- The full transcript of the interview can be read here
Buckingham Palace is yet to officially respond to the allegations made by the couple.
And overnight that the Queen had refused to sign off a prepared statement - with the monarch reportedly wanting more time to consider her response.
Concerns have now been raised that this week, all senior members of the Royal Family are expected to carry out public engagements - where they could face questions about the Oprah interview.
A senior royal source : "The institution needs to lead the response to this. What a sad, terrible morning."
Meghan, 39, broke down in tears during the explosive interview with Oprah - revealing she had been left suicidal after joining the Royal Family and that she had faced racism within the institution.
Recounting how she sobbed in her husband Prince Harry's arms, she said: "I just didn't see a solution. I didn't want to be alive anymore."
And in the candid interview with Oprah, Meghan claimed Archie wasn't made a prince after "concerns and conversations" about "how dark" his skin would be when he was born.
The Duchess of Sussex 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 the 39-year-old declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be "damaging" for them.
Prince Harry, 36, said he would "never share" the full details of the discussion but that he was asked at the start of his relationship with Meghan, how dark the skin of their children might be.
Oprah Winfrey revealed it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh who made the comment about Archie's skin.
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Meghan reveals to Oprah concerns were raised by royals over Archie's skin colour
Oprah: You certainly must have had some conversations with Harry about it and have your own suspicions as to why they didn't want to make Archie a prince. What are those thoughts, why do you think that is? Do you think it's because of his race? I know that's a loaded question.
Meghan: I can give you an honest answer. But in those months when I was pregnant, all around same time: we have in tandem the conversation of he 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.
Oprah: What? Who, who is having that conversation with you? What?
Meghan: So, um,
Oprah: There is a conversation - hold up
Meghan: there are several conversations about it, with Harry
Oprah: there was a conversation with you about how dark your baby is going to be?
Meghan: Potentially, and what that would mean or look like
Oprah: And you're not going to tell me who had the conversation?
Meghan: I think that would be very damaging to them.
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Prince Harry insisted he would never blindside his grandmother with an interview - saying he had too much respect for the Queen.
However Meghan and Harry claimed the 94-year-old did snub them by cancelling an overnight stay at Sandringham amid Megxit.
Other bombshells revealed by the couple in the two-hour special on CBS included confirmation of a falling out between Meghan and Kate Middleton.
Meghan claimed she had been the one left in tears after a confrontation over the bridesmaid's dresses with the Duchess of Cambridge.
But the couple said they were now "thriving" - and revealed they were expecting a little girl in the summer.
In candid scenes, the couple showed off their chickens with Oprah.
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And they gushed over their son Archie, who is almost two, loving beach visits and enjoying bike rides with Harry.
More than 17m in the US tuned in to watch the interview.
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