Queen responds to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Oprah interview

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Buckingham Palace has released a statement on behalf of the Queen in reaction to the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes' Oprah Winfrey interview.

It said: "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan".

The royal family said it would be addressing in private Prince Harry and Meghan's accusations that there were concerns around how dark their children's skin would be.

"The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Oprah Winfrey. Photo / Harpo Productions

The Queen finished by saying she would always love her grandson, his wife and her great-grandson.

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

Full statement from Buckingham Palace on behalf of The Queen pic.twitter.com/uZFZK2Dbpp

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 9, 2021

The interview, which aired on NZ screens last night, has rocked the royal family and divided people around the world.

Many say the allegations demonstrate the need for change inside a palace that hasn't kept pace with the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, but others have criticised Harry and Meghan for dropping their bombshell while Harry's 99-year-old grandfather, Prince Philip, remains hospitalised in London after a heart procedure.

During the two-hour interview, Meghan described feeling so isolated and miserable inside the royal family that she had suicidal thoughts, yet when she asked for mental health help from the palace's human resources staff she was told she was not a paid employee. She also said a member of the royal family had expressed "concerns" to Harry about the colour of her unborn child's skin.

"I just didn't want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he [Harry] just cradled me," she recalled.

The Queen said she will always love Meghan, Harry and Archie. Photo / Getty Images

Meghan said she reached out to the institution for help but was told nothing could be done for her as she wasn't a paid employee.

"They said, my heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there's nothing we can do to protect you because you're not a paid employee of the institution," she says the palace HR told her.

Meghan's revelation there were palace "concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born" has stunned people around the world.

Oprah was momentarily speechless: "What? What? Who is having that conversation with you?"

Prince Harry told Oprah he remains extremely close with her grandmother The Queen. Photo / Getty Images

Meghan and Harry refused to reveal who had that conversation. "I think that would be very damaging to them."

Meghan said it's safe to assume the concern was her mixed-race child could be "too dark".

Winfrey later said Harry told her off camera that the family member wasn't Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip, sparking a flurry of speculation about who it could be.

Meghan and Harry said they felt "trapped" and that she even had her passport taken from her.

At one point, Oprah pointed out she felt trapped while on the verge of suicide. "That's the truth," Meghan replied.

Harry went even further: "My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don't get to leave. And I have huge compassion for that," he told Oprah.

Prince Charles didn't comment on the interview Tuesday during a visit to a vaccine clinic in London.

Harry's father visited a church to see the clinic in action and met health care workers, church staff and people due to receive their vaccine. The visit was his first public appearance since the interview aired in the US on Sunday night.

Maziya Marzook, a patient at the clinic, said "private matters didn't come up at all" during Charles' visit.

"He didn't bring up anything,″ Marzook said. "He was more interested in how the vaccine was and how we feel."