Meghan Markle Said the Palace Had Concerns About Archie's Skin Color

In a horrifying moment during Meghan Markle's one-on-one interview with Oprah Winfrey, (opens in new tab) Meghan said that she was aware of "concerns" within the royal family about the skin color of her son with Prince Harry, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. The revelation came after Meghan told Oprah that while pregnant, Meghan was advised that Archie wouldn't be given a title. That worried her, she said—not because she wanted Archie to have a title per se, but because her son wouldn't have the same security conventions as he would have had otherwise.

"The first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren..." Meghan mused to Oprah. Later, she explained, "We were very scared having to offer up our baby, knowing they weren't going to be kept safe."

She said: "In those months when I was pregnant, all around the same time...So 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 about how dark his skin might be when he's born."

"What? Who is having that conversation with you?" Oprah asked, clearly horrified. "There's a conversation with you...? Hold up. There's a conversation?"

"There are several conversations...With Harry," Meghan said.

"With how dark your baby is going to be?"

"Potentially. And what that would mean or look like," Meghan said.

"And you're not going to tell me who had that conversation?" Oprah said.

"I think that it would be very damaging to them," Meghan said carefully. "That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him."

Later, when Oprah asked Harry about it, Harry said, "That conversation...I am never going to share. But at the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked...I am not comfortable with sharing [the question]. But that was right at the beginning—What would the kids look like?"

On Monday morning, Oprah told Gayle King that Prince Harry had given her permission to express one detail about those conversations: "Neither his grandmother nor grandfather were part of these conversations." That's the Queen and Prince Philip.