Meghan and Harry interview: The key revelations from the Oprah interview

Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to comment on "Royal Family matters" during a No 10 coronavirus briefing.

Camley's Cartoon: Harry and Meghan in bombshell Oprah interview.

Asked about the interview, Johnson said he had "spent a long time not commenting" and that he "didn't intend to depart from that today".

From accusations that the royal family is racist and the full extent of Harry’s fractured relationship with his father, the Prince of Wales, to comments branding the Royals " The Firm" we take a look at some of the key points

READ MORE: Meghan and Harry Oprah: How to watch the interview in the UK - channel and time details

Royal family accused of racism 

Meghan said, when she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised “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.”

Pushed by Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”

Meghan suggested she wanted Archie to be a prince (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese)

Harry refused to give details, adding: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”

Meghan also suggested Archie was not made a prince because of his race.

The duke said that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan following the racism he said she faced in the media.

“No-one from my family ever said anything over those three years. That hurts,” Harry said.

Oprah told CBS This Morning: “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.”

READ MORE: Harry and Meghan interview Oprah: Not Queen or Duke of Edinburgh who made racist comment

Meghan’s mental health

The Duchess of Sussex shockingly revealed she had suicidal thoughts as she struggled with life inside the royal family, saying: “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”

She said she begged for help, and asked to go somewhere to get help, and approached one of the most senior people in the institution, but was told it would not look good.

She told how Harry cradled her when she was in the depths of despair and how she sought help from one of Diana, Princess of Wales’s best friends – which may have been Julia Samuel, who is a psychotherapist.

The Duchess said she spoke to one of Diana's friends about the pressures of joining the Royal Family, "because it's like who else could understand what it's actually like on the inside?"

Harry felt let down by the Prince of Wales

Harry said he felt let down by Charles and that “there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened”.

Speaking about his father, the duke said: “I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson.

Harry spoke of problems with his relationship with Charles (Paul Edwards/The Sun/PA)

“But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.

“But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.”

Harry said his father stopped taking his calls while he and Meghan were in Canada “because I took matters into my own hands. I needed to do this for my family”.

Meghan revealed that working for The Firm – as the royal family is sometimes known – ultimately left her feeling that ending her life was an option, and how she had not been protected by the monarchy.

Harry suggested his family were jealous of Meghan’s popularity with the public – just as the appeal of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had reportedly been seen as a threat.

The couple are expecting a girl

Harry and Meghan revealed they are expecting a baby girl.

The duke joined his wife in the second half of the interview, and told the chat show host: “It’s a girl” and said it is “amazing” to be having a daughter.

The couple revealed Meghan is pregnant with a younger sister to son Archie (Toby Melville/PA)

Asked if they were “done” with two children, Harry said “done” and Meghan said: “Two is it.”

She also confirmed the baby is due in the “summertime”.

Rift with the Duke of Cambridge

The rift between Harry and William continues.

Harry revealed: “The relationship is ‘space’ at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully.”

Harry and William on tour together (Anthony Devlin/PA)

He did not criticise his brother, and echoed past comments, saying: “I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together, we have a shared experience, but we were on different paths.”

The Queen

Harry denied he had “blindsided” his grandmother the Queen with the bombshell statement about stepping down as a senior royal.

Harry denied he ‘blindsided’ the Queen (John Stillwell/PA)

The duke said he believes the report probably could have come from “within the institution”.

Meghan lavished praised on the monarch and said the Queen gave her “some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace” for the pair’s first joint engagement.

She added that she had not realised she would have to curtsey to the Queen.

The Duchess of Cambridge

Meghan said Kate made her cry ahead of her wedding at a bridesmaid dress fitting – not the other way round.

Kate and Meghan on the Buckingham Palace balcony (Yui Mok/PA)

The duchess said Kate was “upset about some things and she owned it and apologised” and sent flowers.

But Meghan added that the false reports were a turning point.

She said “everyone in the institution knew that wasn’t true” and she hoped Kate “would have wanted that to be corrected”, adding: “She is a good person.”

Meghan said she was not sharing the information to be “disparaging”, but added it was “really important for people to understand the truth”.

Lack of support

Asked by Winfrey why they left, Harry blamed a “lack of support and lack of understanding”.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace after the announcement of their engagement (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

He said members of his family suggested Meghan should carry on acting “because there was not enough money to pay for her”.

He added: “There were some real obvious signs, before we even got married, that this was going to be really hard.”

Meghan said her one regret is “believing them when they said I would be protected”.

In a damning comment, the duchess claimed the monarchy had double standards when it came to handling negative press stories – failing to protect the Sussexes but lying to defend other members of the royal family.

Trapped royals

Harry said he had been “trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are”.

“My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave,” he added.

Shock at loss of security protection

Meghan revealed that she wrote letters pleading with Harry’s family not to take away his personal protection officers, warning he was facing death threats.

Harry said he “never thought” he would have his security detail removed upon deciding to step back from royal duties.

He said: “I was born into this position. I inherited the risk. So that was a shock to me.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their interview with Oprah Winfrey (Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions/PA)

Royal family cut Harry off financially

Harry said his family “literally cut me off financially” in the first quarter of 2020 and he went for the Netflix and Spotify deals to pay for his security.

He said he had what Diana left him and “without that we would not have been able to do this”.

Archie’s title

Meghan suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected.

The duchess expressed her shock at “the idea of our son not being safe”, and the idea of the first member of colour in the family not being titled in the same way as other grandchildren.

“It’s not their right to take it away,” she said of the royal family, and suggested it had happened because of Archie’s race.

But Archie, who is seventh in line to the throne, is not entitled to be an HRH or a prince due to rules set out more than 100 years ago by King George V.

The royal family (Victoria Jones/PA)

Jealousy of Meghan

Harry said the royal family welcomed Meghan but things changed after their tour to Australia and New Zealand.

He suggested they were jealous of her because of the ease with which she carried out royal duties on the trip.

“That brought back memories,” he said, in an apparent reference to Diana.

The other wedding

Meghan said she and Harry had a secret marriage ceremony with the Archbishop of Canterbury in their “backyard” three days before their grand royal wedding.

The duchess said “no-one knew” and the couple shared personal vows for “just the two of us”.

All Church of England weddings legally require two witnesses so the “marriage” could have been a blessing.