FOLLOWING HARRY AND MEGHAN’S EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW

HER MAJESTY REVEALS SHE IS ‘SADDENED’ AS SHE TAKES THE FIRST STEPS TO EASE FAMILY TENSIONS

REPORTS: EMILY NASH

The Queen has taken charge of the events following the Duke and Duchess’s interview (above left)

The Queen acted decisively to soothe tensions in her family last week following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

More than 50 million viewers around the world watched as Prince Harry and Meghan laid bare the turmoil behind their decision last year to step back as senior working royals.

But while the shockwaves from their very public revelations reverberated across the globe, the Queen took charge of the situation, bringing her family’s troubles firmly back behind closed doors after issuing a succinct, but sympathetic, statement in response.

Although the conversation contained joyful insights into Harry and Meghan’s new life in California, including the news that they are expecting a daughter and adorable footage of son Archie, now 22 months old, playing on the beach near their Montecito home, it also documented how they felt they had been treated unfairly by the UK media and the institution of the monarchy.

INNER STRUGGLES

Among the many disclosures made during the programme was the Duchess’s heartbreaking account of how she had contemplated taking her own life as she struggled with her mental health and the devastating allegation that, ahead of Archie’s birth, there had been “concerns and conversations” with an unnamed family member about his possible skin tone.

‘Harry, ‘Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members’

with US chatshow host Oprah Winfrey, issuing a statement saying this was a family matter (left)

After inviting Oprah (inset above) to her wedding,

Meghan opens up (above) to the US star, talking about her mental health and how she had felt life wasn’t worth living and had suffered suicidal thoughts.

The Duchess also alleged there had been “concerns” raised by one member of the family about the skin tone of her son Archie ahead of his birth in May 2019 (left), although neither she nor Harry would name the person

More than 36 hours after the programme aired in the US and a day after it was shown on ITV, Buckingham Palace issued a concise 61-word statement on behalf of Her Majesty acknowledging their “challenging” experience, but also making clear her view that it was a matter for the family to deal with in private.

It said: “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members.”

SPEAKING OUT

The 90-minute interview was edited down from three hours and 20 minutes of footage, and while the sit-down interview was recorded at an unidentified location in Montecito, it also showed Oprah speaking to the Sussexes in the grounds of their home in the Californian neighbourhood.

It was shown as the Duke of Edinburgh began his fourth week in hospital in London; he is being treated for an infection and has undergone a surgical procedure for a preexisting heart condition. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge continued their royal duties, highlighting the efforts of staff in the vaccine rollout and shining a light on mental health provision in schools.

The Prince of Wales escorts Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland down the steps of St George’s Chapel in Windsor in May 2018, moments after Prince Harry and Meghan emerge to greet the world as husband and wife for the first time (above left).

As he and Kate left a school in East London, Prince William was asked if he had spoken to his brother since the interview was aired. “No, I haven’t spoken to him yet,” he said. “But I will do.”

He was then questioned about the allegations of racism, to which he replied: “We’re very much not a racist family.”

ROYAL REACTION

HELLO! understands aides and family members alike were left hurt and reeling by the Duke and Duchess’s disclosures and spent hours locked in talks to prepare their carefully considered reaction.

The delay meant millions of UK viewers watched the full programme before hearing how the royal family responded.

But while there was a desire in some quarters to rebut several of the couple’s claims, the Queen’s approach was instead to offer compassion and take the family dispute back behind closed doors.

Chat-show queen Oprah later expressed her own shock at what she had been told, saying of the “concerns” about Archie’s skin tone: “I was surprised they were telling me about it. Even on the tape you can hear me go: ‘Whoa, I cannot believe you are saying this right now.’”

Harry “did not share the identity with me”, she said, adding: “But he wanted to make sure I knew - and if I had an opportunity to share it - that it was not his grandmother or grandfather that were part of those conversations. He did not tell me who was part of those conversations.”

Both the Duke and Duchess described a “lack of support” from the institution, with Harry saying he had been “trapped” within the royal family and that Prince Charles and William still were. “They don’t get to leave,” he said. “And I have huge compassion for that.”

Prince Charles had earlier escorted Meghan up the aisle as her own father was unable to attend the wedding due to health issues

Meghan’s connection with the Queen is clear as the two women laugh together (above) during a royal outing to Chester in June 2018 - the first time the Duchess carried out an engagement with her grandmother-in-law without Harry - and she joins the rest of the family in showing respect to the monarch with a curtsy (below)

PHOTOS: BUCKINGHAM PALACE. GETTY IMAGES. HARPO/JOE PUGLIESE. NEIL HALL/EFE/EPA. PA PHOTOS. REX FEATURES

The Duke also opened up about his strained relationships with his father and brother, but the couple stressed everyone had welcomed Meghan to the family and they talked in glowing terms of their warm connection to the Queen.