Reporters Archie Bland and Aamna Mohdin discuss the impact of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which contained shocking revelations, including allegations of racism at the heart of the royal family
Anushka Asthana talks to senior Guardian reporter Archie Bland, who has been covering the extraordinary conflict between the royal family and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, about the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interview contained shocking revelations, including that members of the royal family had openly expressed concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin would be and her own mental health concerns. “It was all happening just because I was breathing,” Meghan said, breaking down in tears at one point and prompting Winfrey to do the same. “I just didn’t want to be alive any more. That was a clear, real, frightening and constant thought.” Archie tells Anushka that the interview, which aired on Sunday night in the US and Monday night in the UK, went far further than he had expected.
Anushka also talks to Guardian reporter Aamna Mohdin, who spoke to young black British women about how they felt about Meghan’s treatment. There had been a hope, they told Aamna, that the wedding and what it would symbolise might lead to a greater acceptance of black women across all sectors of the UK. Her treatment, they said, is evidence of how deeply entrenched racism is in every corner of British society.
