To the public, the royal family seems perfect, always smiling, enjoying their life as a royal except no one knows what goes on behind those castle doors. In January 2020 the Duke of Sussex, Henry (Harry) Charles Albert David and his wife the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle decided to leave the royal family and live their own life away from the Monarchy. On March 7th 2021 at 9pm CBS aired a long awaited interview with Meghan Markle, Harry and TV sensation Oprah Winfrey. In the interview, the couple reveals what it’s really like inside the royal palace and that it is not all it seems. Every little girl dreams of marrying a prince and becoming a princess – but after that interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, being a princess is not all it’s cracked up to be. 

During Markle’s time as a royal, the media was constantly making up rumors, writing insulting stories and comparing her to the Duchess of Cambridge and sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. Markle was told and promised that she and her family would be protected from the media but to her surprise she was not protected in the slightest. The harassment from the media had gotten so unbearable that Markle had gotten very depressed and had started to have dangerous thoughts about hurting herself. In the interview Markle says, “I just didn’t see a solution. I didn’t want to be alive anymore.” This is when the Duchess knew she needed to get some professional help. She and Harry reached out to royal officials to get her help but were denied by all. Meghan Markle was left to deal with her depression on her own, left only with the help and support of her husband. 

Another bombshell that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry dropped in the interview was the issue of racism in the royal family. When the couple was expecting their first child, there were “concerns and conversation about how dark his skin might be when he was born,” says Markle. The world was astonished to hear about why this was even a subject of conversation amongst the royals and everyone wanted to know who had brought up the topic. When Oprah had asked who had this concern, Harry replied with if he revealed the identity, “it would be very damaging to them.” Oprah later revealed that off camera the prince had told her it was not his grandmother, the queen, nor Prince Phillip. The Duke and Duchess were also told that their son, Archie would receive any protection from the family and he would not be given a title. There was no logical reason for this decision and this frustrated Markle and Harry. 

These things plus many more was what inspired Meghan Markle and Harry to leave the royal family. They are now living a happy, carefree life out in LA. The couple is expecting their second child which they announced in the interview that it will be a girl. At the end of the interview Oprah asked Markle if she had any regrets throughout all this and she replied with “believing them when they said I would be protected.”