Oprah's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Interview

Overview

Oprah's Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Interview refers to Oprah Winfrey's bombshell interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in which they revealed details about their life in the Royal Family which prompted them to leave the family. The revelations of the interview led to shocked reactions on social media, particularly allegations that the Royal Family was very concerned about the skin color of Harry and Meghan's baby and comparisons to the Family's treatment of Markle to the treatment of Princess Diana.

Background

On March 7th, 2021, Oprah hosted an interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on CBS (preview shown below).^[1]

The interview mostly covered Markle's time in the Royal Family and the negativity and racism she endured before she and Prince Harry decided to leave. Among the more notable statements made by Markle was her allegation that people in the Royal Family expressed concerns about the skin color of her baby, Archie, and that Archie would not be given the title of prince nor receive security protection.^[2] Harry also expressed frustrations with his family's lack of support for the couple when Markle was frequently a target of racist and sensationalized tabloid stories, saying he feared history could "repeat itself," referring to the events that led to the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Both members of the couple felt the Royal Family and its surrounding apparatus, known as "The Firm," were not willing to offer protection to Markle and Prince Harry as they were other members of the family.

An incident the couple believed was a "turning point" for them was a tabloid story that Markle made Kate Middleton cry over bridesmaid's dresses in the lead-up to their wedding. Markle insisted this was not the case and in fact, Middleton was the one who made Markle cry. However, the firm did not step in and protect Markle and kill the story, leading the tabloids to paint Markle as a bully.

Developments

The interview shocked social media, who expressed their disgust with how Markle and Prince Harry were treated by the Royal Family. Pieces in Time^[2] and The Independent^[5] expressed how the interview exposed racism in the monarchy. Hashtags #OprahHarryMeghan^[3] and #AbolishTheMonarchy^[4] trended on Twitter after the interview aired. People expressed their empathy and emotions watching the interview. User @TerryFoxette^[6] tweeted a picture of a crying woman with a Markle quote from the interview, gaining over 900 retweets and 9,000 likes (shown below, left). User @MorganJenkins^[7] expressed how the Middleton incident was an example of weaponized "white women tears," gaining over 1,600 retweets and 8,600 likes (shown below, right).

Others made jokes about the interview. User @DanaSchwartzzz^[8] posted a Domino Effect about how Meghan Markle's show Suits led to the collapse of the monarchy, gaining over 13,000 retweets and 102,000 likes (shown below, left). User @DavidMackau^[9] posted a joke making it look as though the Queen was doing a YouTube apology video, gaining over 16,000 retweets and 135,000 likes (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References