Piers Morgan QUITS GMB over claims Meghan Markle lied as Ofcom launches probe

Piers Morgan has sensationally quit Good Morning Britain hours after the launch of a social media campaign which saw more than 40,000 complaints made to Ofcom.

The tough-talking morning show host, who has helped rocket the ITV show to its highest ever viewing figures, attracted a backlash on Twitter after casting doubt over Meghan Markle’s mental health claims in her explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Today the UK’s television regulator announced it would launch an investigation following a flurry of complaints,  driven by a social media campaign against the broadcaster – with many linking to the Ofcom official complaints page.

It came after the 55-year-old host today shocked viewers by walking off camera during a heated on-air row with weatherman Alex Beresford.

The broadcaster stormed out of the studio saying ‘I’m done with this’ after being challenged on his position of the Duke and Duchess by his co-star.

Afterwards ITV CEO Carolyn McCall – who formerly worked for the left-wing Guardian newspaper – said that the broadcaster’s media and entertainment MD Kevin Lygo was speaking to Mr Morgan.

And this evening it was announced that Mr Morgan had quit the hugely popular ITV show – which he co-hosted with Susanna Reid.

An ITV spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.’

It is understood Mr Morgan had been asked to apologise for his remarks yesterday which had been criticised by mental health campaigners but had declined.

It brings to an end his six-year long association with the breakfast show, which he originally joined as a guest host in 2015, during which time he has made it must-see TV with a strong of exclusives and his strident opinions.

Ironically it came the day after GMB recorded its highest ever viewing figures in the wake of Megan Markle’s blockbuster Oprah Winfrey interview.

It also came on the day that he had followed up with an agenda-setting interview with her father Thomas in which Mr Markle had taken aim at ‘snotty’ Harry, defended the British people and Royals against her claims of racism and revealed that he felt she had betrayed him, not the other way around.

Earlier Morgan, who this evening Tweeted a picture of himself with former manager David Ferriter and the message ‘trust your gut’, also addressed his previous comments regarding the Duchess’s mental health.

Yesterday, he was criticised by the charity, Mind, after saying he ‘didn’t believe a word she said’. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report,’ he added.

Today he addressed these remarks and said: ‘When we talked about this yesterday I said as an all-encompassing thing I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.

‘But let me just state for the record on my position on mental illness and on suicide.

‘On mental illness and suicide these are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help they need every time. Every time.

‘And if they belong to an institution like the Royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it.

‘It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say.

‘My real concern was a disbelief frankly and I’m prepared to be proven wrong on this and if I’m wrong it is a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family.

‘If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) The Royal family have serious questions that need to be answered.’

But it was not enough to stop a wildfire social media campaign against him that resulted in 41,000 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom by this evening who announced they had launched a probe under their ‘harms’ code. 

An avalanche of tweets which criticised the host and supporting Meghan – some sharing direct links to the Ofcom complaints page. Among those launching criticism at Morgan were Labour MP Dawn Butler, who copied in the Twitter page of ITV.

In her tweet, which shared a comment from Mind criticising Morgan’s remarks, she asked: ‘@ITV what have you decided to do?’

Another Twitter user said: ‘It took me about seven minutes to complain to fill in the Ofcom online form to complain about Piers Morgan’s disgusting behaviour on mental health and race issues. It’s not much, but if enough people complain they have to do something!’ 

One Twitter user – who said: ‘I am determined to get Piers off GMB Lolz. Which petitions do I need to sign?’ – received a response with a link to the Ofcom complaints page.

Their decision to act was in stark contrast to what happened with 24,500 people complained about dance troop Diversity’s BLM-inspired routine on Britain’s Got Talent last year when the watchdog refused a probe and said: ‘We carefully considered a large number of complaints about this artistic routine, an area where freedom of expression is particularly important.

‘Diversity’s performance referred to challenging and potentially controversial subjects, and in our view, its central message was a call for social cohesion and unity.

‘Any depictions of violence by the performers were highly stylised and symbolic of recent global events, and there was no explicit reference to any particular political organisation – but rather a message that the lives of black people matter.’

Mr Morgan is also Editor at large for MailOnline and writes a twice weekly column for the website. A spokesman for MailOnline said: ‘This is a very sad day for British free speech and one ITV will come to regret very quickly. We stand by Piers 120%.’ 

While hundreds of Twitter users rejoiced Morgan’s departure – some even claiming the host had ‘cancelled himself – several stars and TV personalities rushed to his defence. It included his own son, Spencer Morgan, who posted a picture of he and his father with the caption ‘Team Piers. Always, forever.’

Regular Good Morning Britain guest India Willoughby was who defended the journalist on Twitter. She said: ‘I think people forget that NOBODY watched breakfast TV before Piers Morgan. On any channel.

‘It was filler while you got ready for work. He and Susanna Reid at TV gold. They made it a must-watch. Massive mistake by ITV. Woke is killing everything.’

Another to speak about Morgan’s departure was Conservative commentator Darren Grimes. He said: ‘I’ve had my fair share of Piers Morgan rows. I don’t agree with him on everything, but this is ITV pandering to cancel culture mob. 

‘Piers Morgan has quite literally penned a book warning against censorship of dissenting views and speech, ITV will be poorer for it.’ 

His former co-host on Britain’s Got Talent, Sharon Osbourne, also jumped to Morgan’s defence. She said: ‘I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you are paid for your opinion and that you are speaking your truth.’

There was also backing from highly-respected Channel 4 presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who said Morgan’s departure would be welcomed among Conservatives. He said: ‘For all you think he gets wrong (which are matters of opinion) few will be more pleased to see Piers Morgan go than ministers who won’t face him anymore.

‘GMB always lost the ratings war to BBC, but was talked about more. Murdoch or GB News will bite his hands off.’ 

However, one Conservative, former MEP David Bannerman, said on Twitter that he backed Morgan and that ITV had made a ‘huge mistake’. 

Meanwhile, American journalist Megyn Kelly, who gave a scathing review of Meghan and Harry’s interview on Good Morning Britain after it had aired in the US, also backed Morgan.

She said: ‘I don’t know what happened with Piers Morgan at GMB. What I do know is he and Susanna have been a brilliant team that took risks and became must-watch TV. 

‘In an era of free speech being stifled everywhere, Piers fearlessly speaks his mind. We need more, not fewer, like that in the media.’ 

Earlier, before the announcement was made, Alex Beresford added fuel to his on-going feud with the presenter today as he took aim at those who ‘had the privilege to sit on the fence’ and said no one should ‘pick apart claims of racism.’

He was today publicly backed by GMB’s political producer Anne Alexander, who tweeted: ‘I know the storming off is dramatic etc, but don’t let Alex’s calm and thoughtful words about Harry and Meghan be lost in the drama.And this is a guy who is not a regular presenter taking on one of the most formidable journalists in the country.’ 

She later posted: ‘Well, my WhatsApp is on fire and I’ve not even had breakfast yet. And @alexberesfordTV, I have two proposals of marriage to pass on to you.’ 

Mr Morgan had stormed off the Good Morning Britain set live on air this morning after the show’s weatherman accused him of unfairly ‘trashing’ Meghan Markle. 

Morgan and Beresford had been discussing the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah, where the couple accused the Royal Family of racism. 

After publicly disagreeing on Twitter in the days leading up to the interview, the pair continued to clash in the studio this morning, with Beresford branding his colleague ‘diabolical’. 

Tensions were evidently rising as Beresford tried to interject while Morgan was discussing the media’s role in promoting the monarchy. 

Morgan said, ‘Well do you mind waiting?’ and Beresford replied ‘Actually I don’t, carry on’ before Morgan let him speak, saying, ‘Up to you mate, I was just going to… fine.’ 

Beresford then joined the debate around the couple’s press coverage, adding: ‘There was bad press around the engagement, before the engagement and everything that has followed since has been incredibly damaging, quite clearly to Meghan’s mental health and also to Harry.’ 

The weatherman, 40, then suggested Morgan, who has previously recalled going to the pub with Meghan ahead of her date with Prince Harry, was upset at being ‘cut off’ by the duchess.  

He added: ‘She’s entitled to cut you off. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has. But you continue to trash her’ – at which point Morgan marched off set. 

Susanna Reid was forced to send ITV’s breakfast programme to an early advertisement break after the row between her co-host and Beresford boiled over. 

The GMB host returned to the set after the ad break, and said he and Beresford needed to engage ‘in a civilised manner given that we work at the same show on the same team’.  

He added: ‘You launching into a pretty personally derogatory monologue on one of your colleagues probably isn’t one of the best ways to go about it.’ 

Morgan also went on to address criticism he received yesterday after seemingly casting doubt on Meghan’s claims to have felt suicidal. While doubling down on his ‘serious concerns about the veracity’ of her interview, he stressed mental health ‘should be taken extremely seriously’.  

After the show ended Beresford tweeted what appeared a thinly-veiled dig: ‘I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. 

‘In order for me to do that I would have to strip myself of my identity and that’s not something I can do. It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us to feel more comfortable.’ 

The fallout of Meghan and Harry’s sit-down with Oprah, that aired to British viewers on ITV last night, continues to dominate the news agenda this morning.

GMB aired a clip of the duke taking aim at the press, which kicked off a debate on the show.

Morgan argued the press performs a dual role of scrutinising the royals but also promoting their activities. 

Beresford countered that most of the coverage of the Sussexes had been negative, before turning to address Morgan directly.  

 ‘I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme, a number of times,’ he said.

‘I understand you have a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one, and she cut you off. She’s entitled to cut you off. 

‘Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has. But yet you continue to trash her’. 

At this point Morgan, 55, stood up and said: ‘Ok, I’m done with this. Sorry. You can trash me mate but not on my own show. See you later’.  

As the GMB host marched off, Beresford persisted: ‘You know what that’s diabolical behaviour. That’s pathetic.

His colleagues watched in stunned silence as he continued, calling Morgan’s comments in yesterday’s show ‘incredibly hard to watch’.

‘I’m sorry but Piers just spouts off on a regular basis and we have to sit there and listen,’ he said.  

Reid eventually interjected and took the show to an early ad break while tensions cooled. 

On Twitter Morgan fended off suggestions he was a ‘snowflake’ – something he rails against regularly on GMB.

Guido Fawkes, the political blog, tweeted: ‘What a snowflake @piersmorgan turns out to be. If you dish it out, you’ve got to take it.’

Morgan replied: ‘Agreed. I was annoyed, went for a little cool-down, and came back to finish the discussion.’  

He added that it was a ‘strong debate’ and so ‘worth a bit of GMB family tension’, but justifying his exit, said: ‘I just prefer not to sit there listening to colleagues call me diabolical.’ 

After the break, Morgan returned and said: ‘What we need to do Alex is talk to each other in a civilised manner given we work on the same show on the same team. 

‘You launching into a pretty personally derogatory monologue on one of your colleagues probably isn’t one of the best ways to go about it. 

‘As much as I’d like to sit here taking abuse from you, that’s not going to happen.’ 

Beresford shot back: ‘I’m not trying to come on this show and take you down. Just because we’re on the same side we have to have the same view. 

‘This whole situation is very personal for me and I’m by no way, shape or form accusing you of being racist. I have the luxury of knowing you on and off screen and we’ve had conversations, I know where you stand on this and I have a great amount of respect for you, Piers.’ 

Morgan replied: ‘I wanted you on the show today because you sent me a really thoughtful and nuanced message about all this and I thought we could have a thoughtful nuanced conversation’.

Beresford then admitted: ‘I’m tired of finding a different way to explain not to you, but to so many people on why what has been said is so wrong. 

He went on: ‘I’ve walked into institutions as the only person of colour and experienced covert and overt racism on so many occasions and why the Meghan interview really resonates with me is because an ex-work colleague – not on this show – asked me if I was worried about the shade of cocoa that my son was going to come out. 

‘So I fully understand the hurt that is behind all of that.’ 

Morgan insisted he has not got a ‘racist bone’ in his body, saying he would ‘love’ if one of his children brought home someone from a different race. 

Beresford said: ‘I don’t feel that you are a racist… but that’s why I just feel the stance you were taking on it yesterday was so strong I just felt it was slightly clouded because you’ve had an experience with her.’ 

The pair had rowed earlier in the week about the Oprah interview. Beresford tweeted: ‘You ever stop and think maybe you should give this woman carrying a baby a break?’

Morgan then replied: ‘You mean like she’s giving a 94yr-old woman a break as her husband lies in hospital?’ – a reference to the Queen and her husband Prince Philip.  

The pair have locked horns before on air, including a similar debate about the Sussexes in January last year. 

After returning to the set, Morgan also addressed his previous comments regarding the duchess’s mental health.

Yesterday, he was criticised by the charity, Mind, after saying he ‘didn’t believe a word she said’.

‘I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report,’ he added. 

Today he addressed these remarks and said: ‘When we talked about this yesterday I said as an all encompassing thing I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said. But let me just state for the record on my position on mental illness and on suicide.

‘On mental illness and suicide these are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help they need every time.

‘Every time. And if they belong to an institution like the Royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it.

‘It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say.

‘My real concern was a disbelief frankly and I’m prepared to be proven wrong on this and if I’m wrong it is a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family. 

‘If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) The Royal family have serious questions that need to be answered.’

Several social media users voiced their views of the morning drama. 

One said: ‘I feel there as always been conflict with Alex and Piers, especially when comes to racism topics, and Alex had opportunity to tell it as it is. 

‘But Piers wasn’t expecting that. He doesn’t like hearing the truth about himself.’

A third said: ‘Well that was the most dramatic opening 15 mins of any GMB show I’ve seen… 

‘To be fair, I think Alex was overly critical of [Piers Morgan], who for me has only ever offered a balanced argument of the Sussexes’ ”faults”. ‘ 

Although Beresford mostly presents the weather, he is sometimes invited to participate in discussions, and has done so previously for debates on knife crime and Black Lives Matter. 

He first rose to prominence after interjecting in a discussion about knife crime – days before his cousin was tragically stabbed to death. 

Nathaniel Armstrong, 29, was killed in Fulham, west London, on March 16, 2019.

Beresford said at the time: ‘No-one would have expected it, especially after I spoke out. You couldn’t make it up.’

Eleven days earlier Beresford intervened in a GMB debate with John Apter, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, shouting across the studio from the weather booth that ‘prison doesn’t work’.

He was also vocal during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.

The TV star, who was born to a white English mother and black Guyanese father, spoke of his own experiences with racism, dating back to when he was first called the N-word at just 11 years old while growing up in his hometown of Bristol. 

Beresford tweeted after the show: ‘I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that I would have to strip myself of my identity and that’s not something I can do. It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us to feel more comfortable.’ 

‘I never played naked pool or dressed up like Hitler’: Meghan’s father Thomas Markle takes swipe at ‘snotty’ Harry, says his daughter ‘let him down but he still loves’ her – and insists the British public are NOT racist

By Martin Robinson, chief reporter for MailOnline 

Meghan Markle’s estranged father Thomas today denied his daughter’s claims he had ‘betrayed’ her before branding his son-in-law ‘snotty’ and declaring: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’.

Mr Markle says that he’s apologised ‘100 times’ for doing a deal with a paparazzi photographer before the Royal Wedding in 2018 and urged the couple to see him now they only live ’70 miles away’ from his Mexico home in Los Angeles.

He also denied the Royal Family – or Britain – is racist, calling Meghan and Harry’s claims ‘bulls**t’ and saying if it is true a royal asked about how ‘dark’ Archie’s skin would be, it was probably just a ‘dumb question’.

Mr Markle spoke to Good Morning Britain in the UK after watching the Oprah interview with his daughter and her husband.

In it Meghan said she cannot fathom hurting her son Archie in the way her own father ‘betrayed’ her, admitting she ‘found it hard to reconcile’ with Thomas after he insisted that he had not been speaking to the media. She said: ‘I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child’. 

Mr Markle said that while he did let her down, she had ‘let me down too’ by cutting him off after heart surgery almost three years ago. He said: ‘The bottom line is she didn’t lose me, she made a statement saying she lost me, she didn’t lose me, I would’ve always been there for her, I’m there for her now if she wants me’.  He added: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’.

Mr Markle was referencing Harry’s trip to Las Vegas where he stripped off in a hotel to play pool and once wearing a Nazi uniform to a party when he was 20. 

Describing his last phone call with Harry he said: ‘Harry had said to me if you had listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened to you. Me, laying in a hospital bed after a having procedure, I had a stent put here and put here [points at his heart] and that was kind of snotty so I hung up on him.’

But Mr Markle also used the rare interview to urge his daughter to reach out to him. He said: ‘I’d like to say again. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. This was two years ago. But I’ve tried to make it up to her. I’m now only 70 miles away. I’ve never stopped loving her. I don’t agree with all the things that my children they do. But I  will always love them. And I certainly love Meghan’.

Buckingham Palace was paralysed with ‘horror and dismay’ last night as Prince Harry stood accused of ‘blowing up his family’ after his bombshell interview with Meghan.

The Mail can reveal that the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William were all locked in crisis talks over how to react to a string of incendiary accusations unleashed by the couple during their two-hour special with Oprah Winfrey.

The most damaging appears to be the claim that an unnamed royal asked about how ‘dark’ Archie’s skin would be when he was born. Meghan and Harry have refused to say who it was, but Oprah later said it wasn’t the Queen or Prince Philip. 

Thomas Markle has sided with the royals today. 

He said: ‘I don’t think the British Royal Family are racist at all. I don’t think the British are racist – I think Los Angeles is racist, California is racist but i don’t think the Brits are’.

He went on: ‘The thing about what colour will the baby be or how dark will the baby be, I’m guessing and hoping it’s just a dumb question from somebody, it could just be that simple – rather than being a total racist.’   

He added: ‘This whole thing about colour and how dark the baby is was bulls***.’ 

He was asked about Meghan’s depiction of him betraying him – and said that on her blog before they fell out Meghan had urged other fathers to be more like him.

He said: ‘I’m very disappointed about it. I’ve apologised about this thing [the paparazzi deal] at least 100 times or so, bottom line I’ve never heard back from Meghan and Harry’.

Describing their lost conversation, when he was in hospital before the couple married, he said: ‘I also feel she let me down as well because I was in a hospital bed the last time we talked and I never heard from them again. They didn’t care if i died’.

But urging her to reach out to him, he said: ‘I’d like to say again. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. This was two years ago. But I’ve tried to make it up to her.

‘I’m now only 70 miles away. I’ve never stopped loving her. I don’t agree with all the things that my children they do. But I  will always love them. And I certainly love Meghan’.

The unaired footage from the Oprah interview, which will not feature when it is shown on ITV at 9pm tonight, was released earlier today following the original CBS broadcast on Sunday. 

Meghan drew a contrast with her mother Doria Ragland, who she praised for remaining ‘in silent dignity for four years’.

The clip also saw Meghan distance herself from her half-sister Samantha, who has released a ‘tell-all’ book about their relationship. 

The Duchess retorted: ‘I think it would be very hard to tell all when you don’t know me.’

She said she grew up ‘an only child’ and even claimed Samantha only changed her surname back to Markle after Meghan struck up a romance with Harry. 

The tension between the Markles was addressed in unaired sections of the Sussexes CBS sit-down with Oprah, who probed about her relationship with Thomas. 

Thomas was supposed to walk Meghan down the aisle in May 2018 but pulled out of the ceremony following health problems.

The two were also engaged in a row about him speaking to the press. 

Oprah asked: ‘Did it feel like betrayal when you found that your father was working with the tabloids?’ 

After weighing up if she was ‘comfortable’ delving into the issue, Meghan said her father had assured he had ‘absolutely not’ spoken to the press. 

She said: ‘If we’re going to use the word betrayal it’s because when I asked him, when we were told by the comms team this was a story that was going to be coming out which, by the way, the tabloids had apparently known for a month or so and decided to hold until the Sunday before our wedding because they wanted to create drama, which is also a key point in all this, they don’t report the news, they create the news. 

‘We called my dad, and I asked him, and he said no, absolutely not. I said, you know, the institution has never intervened for anything for us, but they can try to go in and kill this story. But if they do this once, we’re not going to be able to use that same leverage to protect our kids one day. 

She added: ‘I said we won’t be able to protect our own kids one day, and I said, I just need you to tell me. If you tell me the truth, we can

‘And he wasn’t able to do that. And that for me has really resonated, especially now as a mother.’ 

Meghan went on: ‘And also me saying just full stop, if we use this to protect you, we won’t be able to protect our own children one day, I’m talking about your grandchildren. 

‘I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I go I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child. I can’t imagine it. So it’s hard for me to reconcile that.’  

Buckingham Palace has been paralysed with ‘horror and dismay’ as Prince Harry stands accused of ‘blowing up his family’ with his bombshell interview – with the Queen said to have refused to sign off on a statement.

The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William were all locked in crisis talks over how to react to a string of incendiary accusations unleashed by Harry and wife Meghan during a two-hour special with Oprah Winfrey on American TV.

With pressure growing for a statement today, Palace insiders described a mood of ‘intense personal shock and sadness’ that the prince had pressed the ‘nuclear button on his own family’. ‘People are just reeling,’ a source said.

The couple’s interview on CBS late on Sunday night sent shock waves around the world yesterday as the couple laid bare the extent of their rift with the Queen and other senior royals.

They accused an unnamed Royal Family member of racism, suggesting the relative had asked ‘how dark’ their baby would be; said they had been driven out of Britain, in part, by racism; and accused the Palace machinery of failing to support a ‘suicidal’ Meghan.

Harry revealed an astonishing rift with his father, saying his family had cut him off financially while suggesting the Queen had been badly advised and had cancelled a meeting scheduled at Sandringham.

Meghan also accused her sister-in-law Kate of making her cry; suggested senior royals plotted to ensure Archie would never have a title or adequate security; and said officials had failed to stand up for the couple against ‘racist’ commentary, while lying to protect other royals.

A senior Government minister and Boris Johnson ally, Lord [Zac] Goldsmith, echoed the mood of many in royal circles yesterday. Responding to the suggestion that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had ‘loaded up a plane and dropped bomb after heavy bomb on Buckingham Palace’, he tweeted: ‘Not ‘Buckingham Palace’ – Harry’s family. Harry is blowing up his family.’

A statement is understood to have been prepared by Buckingham Palace highlighting the Royal Family’s love for the couple, in attempt to avoid tensions mounting even further. However the Queen was keen not to rush it out without careful consideration overnight, according to The Times.

Buckingham Palace, which was not informed about the couple’s decision to do the interview before it was first announced last month, had been bracing itself for the worst. But aides could not have predicted how devastatingly brutal the couple’s interview – watched by 17million in the US alone but set to air last night to a global audience of many times more, including on ITV in the UK – would be.

The Mail has been told that royal staff stayed up until 3am to watch the interview via video link live from the US with a mounting sense of horror – and sadness.

The Queen’s private secretary Sir Edward Young and Charles’s private secretary Clive Alderton are both said to have watched the interview from Buckingham Palace. 

Palace IT staff had set up a computer link so they could see it, while other members of staff watched it on their laptops while working from home, reported the Daily Telegraph.

Aides then had to prepare briefings from members of the Royal Family and agreed that any response would have to be co-ordinated between the Queen, Charles and William. 

As morning broke, crisis meetings were called involving senior officials as well as senior royals, in person and on the phone, as well via video call.

The Queen, at Windsor, spoke with her son Charles, who was at Clarence House, his London home, and grandson William, who has also moved back to the capital from Norfolk in preparation for his children to return to school.

Sources told the Mail that household staff, many of whom had supported the couple as best they could during an ‘extremely difficult and trying three years’, felt ‘angry and let down’ but were determined to put a brave face on the situation for the sake of the elderly monarch.

‘Staff are reeling. But there is [also] a strong sense of needing to retain a dignified silence and show kindness and compassion. There’s a lot people want to say but no one wins with a tit-for-tat battle,’ said one. ‘Bridges need to be built after all this is over, after all.’

Most damaging are the couple’s claims that not only were they unsupported by both family members and staff, but they also suffered as a result of an apparent racist agenda against them.

Meghan suggested that race was the heart of every decision made against them. But there was bemusement among royal insiders at her claims that senior royals had tried to prevent their son, Archie, from having a title – or security – because of blatant prejudice.

‘They didn’t want him to be a prince,’ she told Miss Winfrey.

Long-standing rules, laid down by George V, mean that the title of HRH passes only to the children of a sovereign and their grandchildren through the male line, meaning Archie will only be given a title when his grandfather, Prince Charles, accedes to the throne.

The Queen can issue letters patent to change that on an individual basis but aides for Harry and Meghan briefed journalists at the time of his birth that they were very happy for him to be styled ‘Master Archie’ because they wanted him to have the same kind of freedoms as the prince’s cousins, Zara and Peter Phillips. 

A source close to the Sussexes suggested yesterday the couple were so concerned about Archie’s security because of his mixed race heritage that they wanted him to become a prince so he would be afforded suitable security.

But insiders say there was never any doubt that the Queen’s great-grandson would be protected and although the Prince of Wales has made no secret of his desire to have a slimmed-down monarch, Harry and his family were always part of his plan.

There was no comment, however, on Meghan’s astonishing accusation that Kate had reduced her to tears ahead of the 2018 Royal Wedding over a bridesmaid dress fitting with her daughter, Princess Charlotte.

She even claimed her future sister-in-law ‘owned’ her mistake, apologised and bought her flowers, contrary to claims that it was she who had made Kate cry with her unrealistic demands.

‘She did what I would do if I hurt someone. Just take accountability for it,’ Meghan said.

The Duchess of Cambridge was yesterday seen driving, stony faced, near Kensington Palace as her office released a video of conducting a call to mark International Women’s Day by speaking to the youngest woman to row solo across an ocean.

The picture of strain was a stark contrast to a new image of Harry and Meghan, pregnant and cuddling Archie, in the garden of their home in California released by her friend, Misan Hariman, to also mark IWD.

The black and white portrait emerged on social media just hours after their interview – in which the couple revealed the second baby they were expecting was a girl – had aired.

A message read: ‘Welcome to the girldad club H!’

The Prime Minister refused yesterday to comment on the details of the Sussexes’ allegations – even when asked whether he believed members of the Royal Family might be racist.

But the White House backed the couple’s decision to speak out, a spokesman saying it took ‘courage’ for Meghan to open up about struggles with mental health problems.

And Labour called on the Palace to launch an investigation into the couple’s claims of racism.

Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was ‘really sad to see the family in turmoil like this’ and that the allegations made by the duchess must be taken seriously.

He added: ‘The issues that Meghan has raised of racism and mental health are really serious issues.

‘It is a reminder that too many people experience racism in 21st century Britain.

‘We have to take that very, very seriously.

‘Nobody, but nobody, should be prejudiced (against) because of the colour of their skin or because of their mental health issues.’

Labour education spokesman Kate Green went further, saying the duchess’s claims should be ‘fully investigated’ by the Palace.

But Tory MP Michael Fabricant accused Labour of trying to ‘politicise’ the row.

He told the Mail: ‘Labour are wrong to politicise this. They know full well that there will be inquiries going on.

‘They really do trying to be desperately insert themselves into the story to get attention.’

Mr Fabricant said: ‘Every family is dysfunctional one way or another. 

‘The holder of every high position will have personal little secrets they want hidden. We are all human.’