Meghan Markle says she had suicidal thoughts during her time as a working royal.
Meghan, who retains the title of Duchess of Sussex, told Oprah Winfrey that she contemplated suicide prior to attending a concert with her husband, Prince Harry, at the Royal Albert Hall.
“We had to go to this event after I told Harry I didn’t want to be alive anymore. In the pictures, I see how tightly his knuckles are gripped around mine,” she said during an interview that aired Sunday night on CBS. “[In those pictures,] we are smiling [and] doing our job. In the royal box, when the lights went off, I was just weeping.”
Meghan said admitting she was contemplating suicide to Harry, whose mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in 1997, made her feel shameful but added that she would have gone through with suicide had she not voiced her frustrations aloud.
“I was really ashamed to have to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially, but I knew that if I didn’t say that I would do it,” she told Winfrey. “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
The duchess also claimed Buckingham Palace declined her request to seek help due to negative optics.
“[Going to a hospital] is what I was asking to do, [but] I was told I couldn’t because it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” she told Winfrey.
Harry, who joined the interview later on, echoed his wife, saying he was “desperate” because he felt “ashamed” when attempting to seek help for the duchess.
“It’s a very trapping environment that a lot of them are stuck in,” Harry said.
The duke added that he never would have given up his status as a working royal if not for his relationship with Meghan, who exposed how “trapped” he felt.
“The answer to your question is no, [I wouldn’t have left],” Harry told Winfrey. “I wouldn’t have been able to because I myself was trapped. I didn’t see a way out. I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped, but the moment that I met Meg, … [I began] to see how trapped within the system [I was].”
Noting that his father, Prince Charles, whom Harry says no longer answers his calls due to the growing estrangement, and brother, Prince William, are direct heirs to the throne, Harry added that he feels sympathy for the remaining family members.
“My father and my brother, they are trapped,” he continued. “They don’t get to leave, and I have huge compassion for that.”
The accusations come amid public fallout between the couple and the rest of the family. After stepping away from royal life in January 2020, the Sussexes announced last month that they would not return as working royals, instead continuing to “live a life of service” in an unofficial capacity from their residence in Santa Barbara, California.
Buckingham Palace released a statement saying the royals were “saddened” by the decision while adding that the two “remain much loved members of the family.”
Tensions continued to flare when former staffers to Meghan accused her of bullying, after which Buckingham Palace announced an investigation into the matter.
“We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” the palace said in a statement. “Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned.”
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The Royal Collection Trust referred the Washington Examiner to the queen’s press office, which has not yet returned the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
