Harry and Meghan's Bombshell Oprah Interview Drops

Twitter was going wild after Oprah Winfrey's sit-down with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aired Sunday night. Some popular themes included how proud Princess Diana would be of her son, how much fodder the interview contained for Netflix's The Crown, how bizarre it is that the royal family seems more concerned with Harry and Meghan than with Prince Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and the general public's passionate desire to protect the couple at all costs after hearing what they've been through. In what CBS describes as one of the more lighthearted moments of the sit-down, the couple revealed their second child, due this summer, is a girl. Other highlights from the evening:

• Perhaps the most shocking moment came when Markle recalled her concerns during her first pregnancy. "We were very scared having to offer up our baby, knowing they weren't going to be kept safe," she said, per the Hollywood Reporter. "We have in tandem the conversation of [whether] 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. ... And what that would mean or look like."

• Winfrey asked for more details, but Harry refused to discuss the conversation, nor would he say who asked the question. The couple said they were told Archie would not be given the title of prince, with no explanation. That meant he would not receive a security detail.
• Harry also didn't say much about his relationship with Prince William. "The relationship is 'space' at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully," he said, per Harper's Bazaar. He added, though, that he loves his brother "to bits. We’ve been through hell together and we have a shared experience, but we are on different paths."
• He had more to say about his relationship with his father, Prince Charles, per People. "There's a lot to work through there. I feel really let down because he's been through something similar. He knows what pain is like. And Archie's his grandson. Of course, I will always love him, but there's a lot of hurt that's happened. And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship. But they only know what they know." He noted that his father and brother "are trapped. They don't get to leave [their roles]. And I have huge compassion for that."
• As for the queen, however, "I have spoken more with my grandmother in the last year than I have done in many, many years," Harry said. "My grandmother and I have a really good relationship and a good understanding," and they share Zoom calls so she can see her great-grandson. "The Queen has always been wonderful to me," Markle added.
• Markle shared that there was a time when, due to the racism she was experiencing plus bullying from the tabloid press and more, "I just didn't want to be alive anymore. That was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought." But she was told she couldn't get help because it "wouldn't be good for the institution," she said, per the New York Times. She also recalled how she had to turn over her keys, passport, and license when she joined the royal family.
• Speaking of tabloids, Markle recalled a story about how she supposedly caused William's wife, Kate Middleton, to cry as she and Harry planned her wedding. The opposite is in fact true, she told Winfrey: "A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something with the flower girl dresses. It made me cry and it really hurt my feelings," Markle said, noting that Kate did later apologize and bring her flowers.
• When the couple was cut off financially by the royal family in early 2020, Harry used his inheritance from his mom, he said, per Vanity Fair. "Without that we wouldn’t have been able to" exit life as working royals, he said. "I think she saw it coming," he speculated of his mom. "I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process." He noted that the streaming deals the couple has made with Netflix and Spotify are not a cash grab, as some have criticized, but a necessary way of making the money they need to pay for security.

Meanwhile, anonymous and mean-spirited rumors about Markle continued to make headlines in the UK, and sources tell the Times of London that the couple's "Megxit" deal could be torn up in retaliation for the interview; the New York Post reports the couple could be stripped of their titles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. (More Meghan Markle stories.)