Queen Elizabeth promises to address Harry, Meghan’s grievances

Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday responded to explosive racism claims from her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, voicing deep concern and sympathising with their troubles with royal life.

“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” said the head of the monarchy in a statement.

“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members,” it added.

Buckingham Palace has come under mounting pressure to respond to the claims made in an Oprah Winfrey interview first broadcast on Sunday, which triggered a crisis unseen since the anguished days of Harry’s late mother, Diana, in the 1990s.

It set off a whirl of speculation about the identity of the senior royal who asked how dark their child’s skin would be before he was born.

Meghan, whose mother is black and father is white, also spoke about how she had suicidal thoughts, but failed to receive any support during her time in the royal family.

Winfrey was left open-mouthed by the racism claim, which reportedly left the palace in turmoil and scrambling how best to address it. The host later clarified that the racist comment was neither made by the Queen nor her husband, Prince Philip.

Prince Charles, Harry’s father and the heir to the throne, earlier ignored a question about what he made of the interview, as he made his first public appearance since the row erupted.

The level of controversy about the royals has not been seen since the 1990s, during the very public collapse of the marriage of Harry’s parents. His mother, princess Diana, collaborated with the author Andrew Morton in a revealing 1992 biography and gave a bombshell BBC television interview in 1995.

In it, she said both she and Prince Charles had been unfaithful, how he was unfit to be king, and that she felt isolated, struggling with self-harm and bulimia.

Harry and Meghan dramatically quit royal life last year and now live in California with their young son, Archie, and are expecting their second child, a daughter, this summer.