MILLIONS of Brits watched in horror last night as Prince Harry and Meghan accused a senior royal of being racist — over the colour of their son Archie.
In the most damaging of a series of incendiary claims made to talk show host Oprah Winfrey, the exiled couple said the unnamed royal had quizzed them on “how dark” he would be.
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Oprah said Harry told her it is NOT the Queen or Prince Philip — leaving the question: Who is It?
The pair refused to rule out anyone else, including William, Kate, Charles and Camilla – all said to be “gobsmacked”.
Harry and Meghan also suggested the decision not to make Archie a prince with full HRH status was racist — and Harry said racism was a major factor in their decision to spark Megxit and quit the UK for America.
But a friend of the family said: “Theres a feeling of total shock, and total dismay about what Harry and Meghan are claiming. Much of what they are saying is simply not recognised by the Royal Family.
“They are bewildered and questioning just why are they doing this? They are wounded.”
A senior royal source said: “We need to think very, very carefully now about how to respond.”
Bombshell claims made by Harry and Meghan included:
Experts said the Oprah interview had sparked the biggest royal crisis in decades. There were suggestions the couple could be stripped of their titles.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked about the row but would not be drawn on it.
Officials said the Queen and senior royals did not watch the interview — screened in full by ITV last night after being seen by 17 million Americans.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stunned the world by accusing an unnamed family member of raising “concerns” about Archie’s “dark skin”.
But the couple could not agree when it was said.
The pair also suggested in the interview that Archie, 22 months old, had been denied the title of prince because of his mixed race.
Yet last night their claims were mired in confusion — with Meghan saying the comments happened when she was pregnant while Harry suggested they occurred before the couple married in 2018.
Royal watchers laid into the couple, claiming that the remarks — shown on ITV last night — were made to cause the maximum amount of embarrassment.
Respected author Penny Junor insisted: “It is hugely damaging for the Royal Family, for Britain and for everybody, especially by not naming anyone.”
The allegation that racism played a part in the decision to deny Archie the status of HRH was also widely ridiculed as the rules of succession mean he could never be a prince at the time of his birth.
It was also called into question in the wake of the couple’s apparent insistence at the time of his christening that he lived his life “as a private citizen”.
Harry’s later claims that the Sussexes were forced to leave the UK because of racist attitudes in Britain towards Meghan were also blasted by experts.
Buckingham Palace officials were locked in talks with senior royals as the accusations of racism spread around the globe.
Meghan said the comment about Archie’s skin colour was made when she was pregnant.
Oprah asked: “You certainly must have had some conversations with Harry about it and have your own suspicions as to why they didn’t want to make Archie a prince. What are those thoughts?
“Why do you think that is? Do you think it’s because of his race?”
Meghan replied: “I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, 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.”
Pressed by Oprah, Meghan added: “There were several conversations about it. With Harry.”
Oprah continued: “About how dark your baby is going to be?”
Meghan: “Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.”
Asked to reveal the member of the Royal Family, the Duchess added: “I think that would be very damaging to them.
“That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him. And I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations.”
Oprah asked: “Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?”
Meghan’s damning reply was: “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.”
But when he was interviewed Harry appeared to contradict the duchess, saying it happened before the couple were married.
He said: “That conversation I’m never going to share, but at the time it was awkward. I was a bit shocked. No. I don’t. I’m not comfortable with sharing that.”
But he claimed the question posed was, “What will the baby look like?” or “What will the kids look like?”.
Harry said: “But that was right at the beginning, when she wasn’t going to get security, when my family were suggesting that she carries on acting, because there was not enough money to pay for her, and all this sort of stuff.
“There was real obvious signs before we even got married that this was going to be really hard.
Oprah asked: “If you’d had the support, you’d still be there?
Prince Harry, hand in hand with his wife, responded “without question” he would have remained a working royal if they had support.
Royal watchers last night cast doubt on the seriousness of the alleged comment by a senior Royal.
Respected headteacher and reformer Katharine Birbalsingh said: “It’s a perfectly normal question in black families.
By Dr Craig Prescott, Constitutional Expert, Bangor University
THE issue of whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Archie could be called a prince is not straightforward.
Back in 1917, King George V set out who could be called His or Her Royal Highness and who could be a prince or princess.
It is the sons or daughters of the monarch, currently Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Also, those offspring whose father is the son of the monarch, so the children of Charles, Andrew and Edward, not Anne’s.
There were no rules set down for great-grandchildren.
The Queen decided when Kate gave birth to George he and his siblings would be princes and princesses because they were in the direct line of succession.
Once Charles is King, Archie could take up the title of prince because his dad will then be the son of the monarch, as stipulated in the 1917 rules.
“Some are light-skinned, others dark. Some very Afro hair, some more straight.
“I look exactly like my Jamaican mother but a sort of Indian version: my dad’s contribution clearly — but my sister doesn’t look Indian at all.”
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: “It is an unprecedented attack on the Royal Family. Accusing them of racism is worrying and inflammatory.
“It is the worst crisis since Princess Diana said on Panorama in 1995 Charles was not fit to be King.
“For the monarchy itself to be accused of racism is shocking and extraordinary. The racism allegation is extremely harmful.”
The public account about Archie not being a prince at the time of his birth was that Harry and Meghan did not want him to have a royal title.
But bizarrely, Meghan told Oprah she did want the boy to have the title for his “protection and safety” but that was denied by the family.
She said: “It’s not their right to take it away.”
Oprah asked if it was because Meghan was the “first mixed-race person to marry” into the Royal Family, she struggled to “fit in”.
Meghan said: “Well, I thought about it because they made me think about it.”
In clips not in the CBS special but released several hours later, Oprah asked: “Did you leave the country because of racism?”
Harry replied: “It was a large part of it.”
The interview lasted three hours and 25 minutes but only 85 minutes were shown.
Buckingham Palace chiefs remained silent last night after holding tense crisis talks all day — despite early indications that they may respond to the interview.
The Queen was briefed on the shock race revelations over her breakfast at Windsor Castle.
A Sun poll found 74 per cent of readers think Prince Harry will regret his interview with Oprah.
About 21.3 per cent of those who took part in the survey believe the Duke of Sussex will not regret the bombshell broadcast.
A YouGov poll showed 47 per cent think the interview was inappropriate with 21 per cent feeling it to be appropriate. And 33 per cent said they had no sympathy for Harry and Meghan.
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