Meghan Markle says members of the Royal family had discussed the potential color of her son’s skin before he was born and claims he was denied the title of Prince and the security protections that came with it.
In her bombshell interview with Oprah on Sunday night, Meghan, who is mixed race, revealed that members of the family had ‘several’ conversations with Prince Harry about how dark Archie’s skin might be.
‘All around this 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 as how dark his skin might be when he’s born,’ Meghan said.
‘That was relayed to me from Harry from conversations that family had with him.’
Meghan refused to say who had those conversations with Harry, saying: ‘That would be really damaging to them.’
The revelation came after Meghan said she had been informed Archie wouldn’t have security protection when he was born because he wasn’t going to be given a HRH or Prince title.
Meghan and Harry’s son, who is seventh in the line to the throne, was christened Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor
Meghan claimed the move not to give Archie a royal title was ‘different from protocol’.
Their son, who is seventh in the line to the throne, was christened Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
At the time of Archie’s birth, it was widely reported that Harry and Meghan had broken with royal convention by making a personal decision not to use a title.
Meghan denied that her and Harry declined the title.
‘They didn’t want him to be a prince… which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,’ she said.
‘I was very scared of having to offer up our baby knowing he wasn’t going to be kept safe.’
She accused the palace of denying her son security protection.
When Oprah questioned Meghan about why her son wasn’t a prince, she responded: ‘There’s no explanation.’
Archie, who will turn two in May, is the eighth great-grandchild to Queen Elizabeth. He is not currently entitled to be an HRH, nor be a prince or a princess, due to rules set out more than 100 years ago by George V.
Only the children and grandchildren of the Sovereign automatically get those titles. Great-grandchildren are only given the title if the Queen intervenes, which explains why Princess Charlotte and Price Louis have those titles.
Meghan Markle is set to open up in her interview with Oprah on how she felt about her and Prince Harry’s son Archie not having a royal title
Archie will be entitled to be an HRH and a prince or princess when the Prince of Wales accedes to the throne.
As the first-born son of a duke, Archie could have become Earl of Dumbarton – one of Harry’s subsidiary titles – or been Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
‘The idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of color in this family, not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be… the other piece of that conversation is there is a convention… When you’re the grandchild of the monarch, so when Harry’s dad becomes king, automatically, Archie and our next baby would become prince or princess.’
The decision not to give Archie a title was thought to be inspired by Harry’s wish to have been a normal child, rather than a prince, as he grew up.
Meghan and Harry, who are now living in Montecito, California with their son, are expecting their second child later this year – which they revealed in the Oprah interview will be a girl.
Baby Sussex will be the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s 10th or 11th great-grandchild, depending on whether she arrives before or after Zara Tindall’s baby, which is also due in 2021.
The same title rules will apply to their second-born child.
Harry and Meghan have sought to keep Archie out of the public eye for the most part since moving to California, only releasing a few photos of him on holidays such as his birthday.