Was this the moment the US public turned against the Royal Family? Inside the Meghan Markle interview where the Duchess dramatically claimed she was left suicidal by royal life as it ‘silenced’ her

Although the United States of America launched a successful revolution against the British monarchy in 1776, there are moments when this isn’t always so obvious.

If you walk into any supermarket in the States you will see rows and rows of British royals smiling from the front pages of celebrity magazines.

Despite no longer running the country, the British Royal Family has been fascinating to the American public for hundreds of years.

And perhaps at no point was this truer than when, in the spring of 2018, a mixed-race woman from Los Angeles stepped forward to enter this fantasy world that appeared to offer such glamour and comfort.

Meghan Markle had fulfilled every woman’s dream by marrying a prince in a lavish castle wedding on May 19, and 29 million Americans got up at dawn to share it with her.

So when she took to the airwaves less than three years later in March 2021 to talk about her experience living inside the royal bubble, once again millions tuned in to watch.

But they were shocked to discover that it was not the fantasy that they had imagined, instead it was an apparent poisonous nightmare due to a stuck-in-the-past elitism and racism.

In a special talk show with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan sat down with Prince Harry to deliver a devastating assault on the institution of monarchy – as well as their own family.

Chatting in the sun-kissed garden of a Californian mansion, a heavily pregnant Meghan described in the 85-minute tell-all interview that the time she had spent in the family had been a nightmare from which she’d barely survived. 

Meghan related how she had to turn over her passport, driver’s licence, keys and other personal belongings when she moved into the cramped confines of Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace. 

‘I left the house twice in four months,’ she told Oprah, adding, ‘I couldn’t feel lonelier.’ 

She recalled watching the Little Mermaid cartoon and relating to Ariel, the mermaid who exchanged her voice for legs in order to marry her prince.

‘She falls in love with a prince and because of that she loses her voice.’ Oprah asked the now famous question, ‘Were you silent or silenced?’

‘The latter,’ Meghan dramatically replied.

She tearfully said the stress of royal life made her suicidal when she was five months pregnant and claimed that family members had asked ‘how dark’ Archie’s skin would be.

After the broadcast was finished, the series of bombshell claims were repackaged into clips – going around the internet, and therefore the world, in minutes.

However, the British people were sceptical of the claims and deplored the harm and pain that it had caused the Queen by reducing the thousand-year-old institution of monarchy to celebrity talk show fodder. 

Eyebrows were also raised because Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, with whom he had always had a close relationship, was still in hospital with a pre-existing heart condition when it was broadcast. He died a month later. 

The UK tabloid press branded Harry and Meghan as ‘selfish’ and ‘nauseating’, causing Meghan’s YouGov popularity rating to drop from -14 per cent to -27 per cent following the interview, with Harry’s rating also going negative for the first time ever. 

But around the world, including in Commonwealth nations like Canada and Australia, people were far more sympathetic upon hearing the accounts of Princess Diana’s son and his wife.

However, globally, there was nowhere  this was more apparent than in the US. 

In his book Battle of the Brothers, royal historian Robert Lacey details how the American people and media reacted following the show.

He writes how the feelings for some Americans were so strong that there were calls on social media to ‘finish what the American Revolution started’ and to ‘burn down’ Buckingham Palace and the monarchy.

Chris Pluto, a 44-year-old Pittsburg line cook, told NBC: ‘The first thought I had, watching Meghan Markle, was that she was genuine.

‘I was immediately struck by her clarity, and that she was telling the absolute truth about her experiences.‘ 

Mr Pluto praised Meghan for the ‘coverage’ with which she spoke about her mental health, commenting: ‘That made me cry. I felt that experience.’

This powerful reaction was also echoed by US celebrities, who took to the airwaves to share their sympathy. 

Former First Lady Michelle Obama and singer Beyonce both applauded Meghan for speaking so openly about race and mental health.

And the White House press secretary Jen Psaki made clear that President Joe Biden felt the same, commenting: ‘For anyone to come forward and speak about their own struggles with mental health and tell their own personal story – that takes courage.

‘That’s certainly something the president believes.’ 

It quickly became apparent that the interview had caused severe damage to the monarchy around the world.

Alongside its obvious role in the constitution, the British monarchy also plays an important part in promoting ‘Brand Britain’ around the world.

Usually they do this very well by generating a constant stream of positive headlines through their charity work, as well as going on tours abroad to meet with foreign leaders.

But as the interview became one of the biggest stories in the world, discussion turned to the royal family’s behaviour.

While out and about at a school visit, Prince William was forced to tell a reporter that The Firm was ‘very much not racist’.

In a TV interview shown across North America, the former prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, cited the Oprah interview as another reason for Australia to sever its constitutional ties to the British monarchy after Elizabeth’s reign was over. 

He stated he believed there should be no place for an Australian King Charles III. 

It went down badly in Canada too, with a poll taken shortly after the interview showing 48 per cent viewed the monarchy as a ‘racist institution’, with more than half saying the time had come for the royal link to be abandoned, according to Lacey.

The leader of the New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh said that the Royal Family appeared to be systematically racist and that they are ‘in no way beneficial to Canadians in terms of their everyday life’.

The bombshell interview caused Buckingham Palace to go into ‘crisis mode’ with the three households representing the Queen, Prince Charles and William locked in discussions that lasted all day.

After sleeping on it, the Queen issued the following statement: ‘The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.

‘The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning.’

The Queen then issued the memorable line: ‘While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.’

She then finished the short statement: ‘Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.’

Nevertheless, the deep-rooted rift between Harry and William was also hinted at in the interview, with Harry saying the relationship needed ‘space’ but that ‘time heals all things, hopefully.’

However the Sussexes critics didn’t take well to Meghan’s decision to go on national television and attack the family she married into, especially when she was already estranged from most of her own.

The month after the interview, Oprah told an online talk show that she was ‘surprised’ that Meghan ‘went all the way there’ with allegations of racism against the royal family.

The TV host said she had ‘no idea’ that the meeting would ‘reverberate’ the way it did, adding the couple wanted to be able to tell their story in a way that ‘allowed them to be as truthful as possible’. 

Following the interview, the Sussexes insisted it would be the ‘last word’ on their rift with the Royal Family and that they felt they ‘needed to have their say’ but now want to ‘move on’. 

But they did return to the topic. In December 2022 they released a six-episode tell-all ‘docuseries’ on Netflix which made yet more damaging claims about the monarchy.

However, amid the further complaints, a revealing behind-the-scenes moment showed them cosily sitting down on their couch to watch the interview.

The pair were seen Gogglebox-style alongside their dog Pula, with Harry shielding his wife’s eyes during parts of the interview when headlines about Meghan would appear on screen.

Despite the American public being sympathetic to the Sussexes at the time of the Oprah interview, in the years since their patience has seemingly run out. 

Americans are regarded as go-getters and those who blame others are usually regarded with suspicion.

Ingrid Seward, the editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, told The Standard in December: ‘I give a lot of talks to Americans and they all dislike Harry and Meghan. They hate that they let the Queen down.’ 

Meanwhile, some insiders have suggested that many people now simply don’t think about them and have no opinion either way. 

Kinsey Schofield, an LA-based royal expert and host of the To Di For Daily podcast, told the paper that she thinks a lot of Americans don’t care about them at all.

She said people have lost interest in Harry and Meghan after realising they had given them too much credit over the years.

Their unpopularity was highlighted when they were mocked and humiliated in an episode of South Park in 2023. 

The satirical cartoon launched a series of attacks against the couple in an episode of the show, which was entitled The Worldwide Privacy Tour and depicted the couple embarking on a publicity blitz to promote the Prince’s new book, Waaagh.

At one point, they were seen stepping off the plane holding signs which said ‘We want our privacy’ and ‘Stop looking at us’.

After the show aired, reports surfaced suggesting that Meghan had been left ‘upset and overwhelmed’ by the couple’s less-than-flattering portrayal.

And even when Harry and Meghan turned up to help LA in the wake of the devastating wildfires, they were slammed by the Hollywood actress Justine Bateman as ‘disaster tourists’.

It seems that the American public are slowly catching up with the Brits and turning on Harry and Meghan after all of these years.