In an interview with American talk show Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle revealed that members of the British royal family expressed concern to her husband Prince Harry about the potential skin colour of the couple's first child.
As per People magazine, Meghan said that her son Archie was denied a royal title and royal protection and that there were "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born."
In her sit-down interview with Oprah, which is aired on Sunday, Meghan said the palace decreed that Archie would not have any title, a move she says was "different from the protocol."
"They didn't want him to be a prince . . . which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn't going to receive security," the Duchess of Sussex told Oprah.
She added, "we have in tandem the conversation of, 'He won't be given security. He's not going to be given a title.' And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."
An astonished Oprah asked Meghan who made that comment, with the 'Suits' actor declining to answer, saying the revelation would be too damaging.
Regarding the conversations, which Meghan was not part of, Oprah asked, "Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?"
Meghan responded, "I wasn't able to follow up with why, but that--if that's the assumption you're making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?"
Later in the interview, Oprah pressed Harry on the issue, asking him who was behind the comment.
"That conversation I'm never going to share. It was awkward. I was a bit shocked," he said.
He also said that the conversation happened early in his romance with Meghan. "That was right at the beginning: What will the kids look like?'"
When Harry and Meghan were married in May 2018, Queen Elizabeth gave them the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Archie was entitled to the "courtesy title," Earl of Dumbarton. However, the couple announced shortly after his birth that they had not given him a courtesy title and he would be known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
Meghan stressed that she and Harry had no say in the decision about Archie not being named a prince.
"It's not our decision to make. Even though I have a lot of clarity with what comes with the titles, good and bad, and from my experience a lot of pain, I wouldn't wish pain on my child, but that's their birthright to then make a choice about," she said.
Under current guidelines, great-grandchildren of the monarch are not princes or princesses, except for children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, which is why Prince William and Kate Middleton's children are Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
Meghan and Harry's CBS special with Oprah marked the couple's first joint interview since their royal exit, which was recently made permanent.
In the interview, the duo discussed the reasons behind their decision to step back from their royal duties, which they had first announced in January 2020.
“Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special” aired on CBS on Sunday.
The special was produced by Harpo Productions. Terry Wood and Tara Montgomery executive produced, along with co-executive producer Brian Piotrowicz.
The special will be internationally distributed by ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group.
Meghan and Harry officially stepped down from their roles as senior royals last year. Since last summer, Meghan and Harry have been living with Archie in their new home in Southern California, not far from Oprah's, near Santa Barbara.
Their interview with the former talk show queen and media mogul aired a month after Harry made a rare TV appearance on “The Late Late Show With James Corden”.
Markle and Harry, who tied the knot in 2018, welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison, in May 2019.