For Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, life as a royal hasn’t been all that glamorous. Being the only non-white person in a white-dominated space is bound to have some prejudiced attitudes. Recently, the 39-year-old former American actress spoke about racism and colourism within the royal family in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Many people weren’t surprised after hearing such claims and Winfrey herself would agree. Now, Michelle Obama is also chiming in on the situation as well. On 16th March, the former First Lady of the United States sat with Jenna Bush Hager on NBC’s “Today” to give her opinion on Meghan’s rough experience with the royal family.
Miss Obama stated, “Public service, it’s a bright, sharp, hot spotlight and most people don’t understand it, nor should they. The thing that I always keep in mind is none of this is about us. In public service, it’s about the people that I serve. I always try to push the light back out and focus on the folks that we’re actually here to serve”.
She was then asked about racist statements said by a member of the royal family regarding Markle and Prince Harry’s child Archie. The comments were made about his skin colour. Obama responded, “Race isn’t a new construct in this world for people of colour, so it wasn’t a complete surprise to hear her feelings and to have them articulated”.
Obama then expressed, “The thing that I hope for and the thing that I think about is, this first and foremost is a family and I pray for forgiveness and healing for them so that they can use this as a teachable moment for us all”.
To recap what went on in Winfrey’s interview, Markle and Prince Harry stated that the press treatment in the UK and the unsupportive royal family drove the Duchess of Sussex to contemplate suicide. She also mentioned feeling silenced during her time living in the UK as a royal. Moreover, the racist comments targeted towards her unborn child made the situation worse.
What’s even worst was how she equated Prince Harry to a victim falling in love with his kidnapper. She stated how she felt sorry for Prince Harry and that he fell victim to Meghan’s “negligence and sociopathy”. Samantha basically thinks that Meghan is ruining his life.
She has no ties with the royal family but still insists on weighing in on the situation. All of this started due to the grudge Samantha has on Meghan for abandoning her family. The former actress stated that she has not spoken to Samantha for more than two decades.
Not to everyone’s surprise, Meghan’s father Thomas Markle also weighed in on the whole situation. He mentioned that she would not feel suicidal if she didn’t bail on him and her family.
