Following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Royal Family responded with a pretty generic statement saying the two and their son Archie will always be members of the family and that the issues they raised were concerning and would be taken seriously. Now Prince William has addressed the matter for the first time, as well.
In a walk and talk style interview, complete with a mask, Prince William told the reporters present he has not spoken to his brother Prince Harry yet, but he will be doing that soon. He denied the allegations of racism against the Royal Family. Here’s a portion of his quote, as seen in a video from The Daily Mail…
No, I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I will do… We are very much not a racist family.
On the one hand, it’s nice to hear someone from the Royal Family speak off the cuff about the interview rather than via a statement that was clearly crafted by an army of publicists and lawyers. On the other hand, there’s obviously not a ton to this statement, though it is very telling that Prince William and Prince Harry haven’t spoken since the interview, which dealt with some very difficult topics. That seems like the sort of thing both brothers would want to sync up about, but they’re clearly just not that close, probably for a wide variety of reasons.
The extended interview touched on a wide variety of different topics. Meghan Markle talked at length about how trapped she felt and the depression she dealt with. She also spoke about the difficulty of adjusting to life in the Royal Family and how her new relatives (allegedly) didn't make her life and the period of adjustment very easy. Response to those portions of the conversation have been pretty wide-ranging and extensive, but there has also been a lot of reaction to the couple's reveal that they were asked questions about what color skin their baby might have.
The last story, along with conversations around whether the Royal Family was proactive enough in trying to help Meghan Markle deal with the vicious attacks she was taking from Britain's tabloids, have caused some to ask questions about the Crown's views on race. In the time since the interview aired, many articles have been written on the subject including some that touch on the institution's concerning history with race.
It's unclear where everyone involved will go from here. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry didn't really go out of their way to slam individual family members, particularly Prince William and Kate Middleton during the interview. Prince Harry even said he feels "huge compassion" for his brother because he's "trapped." Given Prince William said in his above comments he's planning to reach out, this whole situation may lead to some positive momentum in their relationship. Either way, it seems clear Prince William is planning to keep on with his Royal duties and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have plenty of publicity and a big Netflix deal to carry them forward.
