THE GUARDIAN: First Thing: Explosive Meghan interview reveals racism and royal neglect

Meghan said palace had not supported her when she was left feeling suicidal, and had asked how dark her son’s skin would be. Plus, officer charged with killing George Floyd will be tried today

 The Duchess of Sussex said she ‘didn’t want to be alive any more’ following her treatment in the tabloid press. Photograph: Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese/Getty Images

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Molly Blackall

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Good morning.

The Duchess of Sussex revealed that she was left with suicidal thoughts as a result of her treatment by the tabloid media and the royal family, and that despite her reaching out for support with her mental health, the palace had failed to protect her. This was one of a number of explosive revelations that came to light during the eagerly anticipated interview between Meghan, Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey, which aired primetime in the US last night.

Perhaps the most shocking allegation made during the interview was that a member of the royal family had raised concerns with her husband over the skin colour of their baby, with “conversations about how dark his skin might be” taking place while she was pregnant.

Harry also revealed that his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking his calls, and that the family had stopped paying for the couple’s security at the start of 2020 – with this apparently motivating the decision to take on lucrative deals with Netflix. You can read a summary of the key allegations from the interview here, including news that they married in secret three days before their Windsor Castle wedding.

• Royal commentators were pranked into criticising the couple’s performance before they had seen the interview, with two YouTube stars setting up a fake media company and paying leading commentators, including the Queen’s former press secretary, to give their views days before the interview was broadcast. Some were also duped into discussing false topics supposedly covered in the Oprah interview, including Meghan’s support for a London donkey sanctuary and refusal to have the coronavirus vaccine.