A moment from Meghan Markle’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey is being discussed again after a clip of the particular conversation resurfaced on TikTok.
A moment from Meghan Markle’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey is being discussed again after a clip of the particular conversation resurfaced on TikTok. The interview took place shortly after Meghan and Prince Harry stepped down from their royal duties.
In the clip, Meghan claimed that the Palace did not help her with negative stories in the press. “I did anything they told me to so – of course I did because it was also through the lens of,’ ‘And we’ll protect you,” she said.
“So, even as things started to roll out in the media that I didn’t see – but my friends would call me and say, ‘Meg, this is really bad’ – because I didn’t see it, I’d go, ‘Don’t worry. I’m being protected’,” she added.
This was followed by Oprah asking, “Were you silent or silenced?” “The latter,” replied Meghan.
“So, how does that work? Were you told by the comms people or the – I don’t know – the institution, were you told to keep silent? Were you told to say nothing?” Oprah asked.
Meghan said, “Everyone from my world was given very clear directive from the moment the world knew Harry and I were dating to always say ‘No comment’.”
‘And I was told that I couldn’t…’
Meghan also talked about how she was refused help for her mental health while she was in the royal family. “It was all happening just because I was breathing. I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help,” she said. “I said that, ‘I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere’. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.”
Meghan said she spoke to “one of the most senior people just to get help”. She said their response was, “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.”
“This wasn’t a choice. This was emails and begging for help, saying very specifically, ‘I am concerned for my mental welfare’,” Meghan added.