Meghan Markle’s revelations in her interview with Oprah made it clear the former Duchess of Sussex had been through more than she could bear in her years associated with the Royal family.
Through what is supposed to the be the happiest moments of a person’s life, getting married and having a baby, Meghan suffered her worse largely thanks to the British press who have undoubtedly been her harshest critics during her time in the UK. Bravely confessing to Oprah her experiences with depression and suicidal thoughts heartbreakingly in result, Meghan’s humanity shone throughout the sit-down as she opened up about the damage done by her public condemnations at hands of the media.
Along with other competing forces testing her emotionality, the former Royal revealed her rawest side in this insightful interview, finally softening critics and here’s why:
Her Character was Assassinated Publicly with No Contesting from the Royal Family
Despite Meghan seemingly able to slip into her role as Duchess of Sussex smoothly, fabricated news reports made up until recently that she was a ‘bully’ and ‘tyrant’ to staff and Royal family members supported the press’ portrayal of her as an outsider with a vendetta to dismantle the Monarchy. Meghan’s character was constantly marred when she became involved with the family, with the accusation that she had even made Kate Middleton cry in the lead-up to her wedding.
Meghan described this moment to Oprah as the turning point at which she realised far worse than not being protected by the press, her married family weren’t protecting her despite knowing the opposite incident had actually occurred. The Royals made no effort to dismantle the lies published tarnishing Meghan’s character and silenced her in saving it, making the intentions of the Royal family in relation to the former Duchess come into serious question.
Cruel Comparisons Made to Kate Middleton
This assassination of Meghan’s character continued with constant comparisons made to Kate as Oprah pointed out in the interview. She presented juxtaposing headlines discussing Kate’s beautiful bride bouquet next to Meghan’s wedding flowers posing ‘risk’ to Princess Charlotte, her fashion threats to the Queen beside Kate co-ordinating perfectly with the monarch, and the concern for Meghan cradling her baby bump (although Kate was praised for doing the same).
The separation made between these two reflects the long-running, misogynistic view in media that two women in powerful positions can’t get along. “So much of what I’ve seen play out is this idea of polarity,” Meghan spoke in regards to the public portrayal of her relationship with Kate. ‘They really want to see a narrative of a hero and a villain.” This narrative was ultimately destructive for Meghan mentally and show’s how women’s repeated negative treatment in media far supersedes that of men to detrimental effects.
The Racist Treatment Meghan Was Exposed to Followed Her Son Before He Was Born
One of the most disturbing reveals from Meghan in her interview was that a family member had come to Harry while she was pregnant with son Archie questioning “how brown the baby would be”. While many would ask why this should matter in reaction, the racist basis upon which this comment was made makes it easy to understand.
This came after Meghan was targeted to extensive racism in British tabloids throughout her courtship and marriage to Harry. Over the years her background has been insensitively joked upon in headlines likening her California upbringing to that of ‘Gang-scarred’ Compton, wrongly describing her African-American mother who raised her being ‘from the wrong side of the tracks’ in one publication. Racism was rife throughout Meghan’s Royal time but what was most shocking and sad was that these views had reached her unborn child, highlighting how putrid and inescapable racism truly is for people of colour.
Aside from Harry’s public statement in 2016 addressing his then fiancé’s appalling mistreatment, again there has been no reprimand from the rest of the Royal family condemning racism altogether which Harry strongly criticised joining in on Meghan’s interview.
She Sacrificed A Lot Only to Receive No Support from Those Around Her
With everything she gave up in following her path to true love, Meghan received no such dedication or substantial support when it came to feeling comfortable in a country and lifestyle previously made foreign to her. She told Oprah that she’d lost many things, her career, independence and her father most poignantly, only for everything to go unacknowledged with the expectancy to follow Royal protocol no matter how badly she was treated publicly and behind closed doors.
This leaves the former Duchess with one regret. ”My regret is believing them when they said I’d be protected. Had I really seen that that wasn’t happening I would have been able to do more.”