The jaw-dropping interview with Meghan and Harry has certainly divided opinion and left many calling for the monarchy to be abolished.
The two-hour sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey which aired in the U.S. on Sunday was compelling viewing.
Most notably Meghan revealed that she had suicidal thoughts while pregnant with Archie and that a member of the royal family had concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin might be two months before she gave birth.
According to Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell the revelation will spark a witch hunt as to which royal made those remarks with Prince Harry telling Oprah “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Meghan said the constant drip of false stories about her in the press during her pregnancy led her to feel suicidal.
“Look, 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. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” she said.
Meghan then added that when she expressed her intention to get professional help, “senior people” told her it wouldn’t be good for the institution.
With social media saturated with shares, likes, comments and criticism over the revelations Twitter has been flooded with the hashtag #AbolishTheMonarchy as people criticize the royal family and its treatment of the couple.
“Proud of Meghan to open up about what has happened to her. Just hearing what she went through and how badly she was treated is so heartbreaking,” one person wrote.
“People waking up today just realizing that the British Monarchy is a classist, racist institution?” another said.
“The royal family repeatedly expressed concerns about her baby’s skin color. They discussed not giving him a royal title. They failed to protect her from tabloid race-baiting. The monarchy is not fit for purpose. It should go,” a third wrote.
Anti-monarchy group Republic said the institution is facing “its worst crisis since the abdication in 1936,” as per The Express newspaper.
Oprah also asked why Archie was not made a prince to which Meghan said: “They didn’t want him to be a prince . . . which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security.”
At the time of the couple’s son Archie’s birth it was reported that Harry and Meghan had refused a title for him but now say this wasn’t the case.
Under royal rules only sons and daughters of the monarch, and those whose father is a son of the monarch are entitled to be called Prince. These were extended under the Queen which would have meant Archie would be entitled to the title of prince but only when his grandfather Prince Charles became king.
The couple did refuse to use the title Earl of Dumbarton, for Archie, which they could have done.
Republic’s chief executive, Graham Smith, said: “Whether for the sake of Britain or for the sake of the younger royals, this rotten institution needs to go,” as per the British newspaper.
But many came out in the royals defense, some of the most prominent included TV presenter and former newspaper editor Piers Morgan who called their interview a “betrayal” to the Queen.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked if the palace should investigate allegations of racism and said: “Perhaps the best thing I can say is I’ve always the had the highest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role that she plays in our country and across the Commonwealth.”
The palace has yet to respond to the serious allegations that have emerged from the couple’s interview.
This isn’t the first time that talk of abolishing the royal family has surfaced and it’s not an impossible act.
For this to happen there would need to be an act of parliament, signed by the Queen.
Royal expert Marlene Koenig told Insider: “It would take legislation, an act of Parliament, and signed by the Sovereign to end the monarchy.”
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