{"id":6636,"date":"2021-04-09T09:52:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T13:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6636"},"modified":"2025-06-27T15:22:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T19:22:20","slug":"oprah-winfreys-royal-interview-a-catalyst-for-discussions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/04\/09\/oprah-winfreys-royal-interview-a-catalyst-for-discussions\/","title":{"rendered":"Oprah Winfrey\u2019s Royal Interview: A Catalyst for Discussions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Oprah Winfrey\u2019s two-hour interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has sparked conversations around the world, as new details about their departure from Britain were revealed. Allegations of racism, insensitivity and deep-rooted issues within the royal system have left many with questions and varying commentary. According to television network CBS, more than 49.1 million people have streamed the interview. Among those viewers are Jack Bisson, 20, and Maraia Nason, 20, who attended a viewing party of the event.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Prince Harry and Meghan with Oprah Winfrey, taken from their interview.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the most arguably shocking revelations made in the interview was in regard to Meghan\u2019s mental health. \u201cI just didn\u2019t want to be alive anymore,\u201d Meghan said in the interview. \u201cAnd that was a very clear and real and frightening, constant thought. And I remember how he [Harry] just cradled me.\u201d It was after this that Meghan shared that she had gone to the institution to ask for mental health services. She, however, was denied access to help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bisson weighed in. \u201cOn the one hand, I sort of get how the royal family wants to keep their perfect image for the public,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that being said, I think that denying anybody help when they\u2019re sick is wrong. Meghan straight up saying she wanted to kill herself indicates the need for some sort of medical attention and the fact that the royal family would not acknowledge this is reminiscent of the situation Diana was in back when she did her interview. She basically said the same thing then that Meghan is now.\u201d Bisson went on to raise points about the Royals\u2019 naivete regarding mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nason shared similar thoughts. \u201cThe way in which Meghan was denied mental health services from the institution was distasteful,\u201d she said. \u201cEssentially because of her status and the attention it would draw, she could not receive help from a hospital. She was pushed into a corner, unable to access any treatment. This denied access must have only further contributed to her mental illness.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Among the revelations came the notion that prior to giving birth to her first son, Archie, there were concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born. \u201cThat conversation, I\u2019m not going to share,\u201d Prince Harry said. \u201cBut at the same time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked. That was right at the beginning when she wasn\u2019t going to get security, when members of my family were suggesting that she carries on acting because there\u2019s not enough money to pay for her.\u201d Oprah appeared taken back by this information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Oprah’s facial expression as Meghan shared details of the conversations about her unborn child’s skin color.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFrom an outsider\u2019s perspective, of course I believe the alleged concern regarding Archie\u2019s skin color is absurdly racist,\u201d Nason said. \u201cHowever, it\u2019s not surprising considering the royal family has enabled racism since the early beginnings of the monarchy. The royal family is a deeply white institution and Meghan, a biracial woman having a biracial child, is a very rare, if not unheard of, occurrence within the bloodline. Even more so, by birth it has only been white royals on the British throne. It only makes sense for this systemically racist institution to worry about the skin color of a baby that is entitled to a title.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI think Oprah\u2019s reaction said it all,\u201d Bisson added. \u201cIt was really shocking really how even in 2021 these people can be so bigoted as to worry about the color of a baby\u2019s skin. I think even with Meghan, race was an issue with the royal family and the fact that they still have this mindset is pretty sick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prince Harry also alluded to what he believes his family\u2019s mentality is about race and the constraints placed on members of the royal family. \u201cFor the family, they very much have this mentality of: \u2018This is just how it is. This is how it\u2019s meant to be. You can\u2019t change it. We\u2019ve all been through it.\u2019 What was different for me was the race element, because now it wasn\u2019t just about her. It was about what she represented.\u201d He added to this by explaining how he was trapped, but at the time did not know he was trapped. Bisson agreed with the prince\u2019s explanation. \u201cI don\u2019t think he would just make it all up and say that he feels trapped without actually feeling it,\u201d Bisson said. \u201cI mean, growing up in that environment you are told how to act, dress and really what kind of person you need to be. It must feel like you aren\u2019t even really in control of your own life.\u201d Nason agreed with Bisson. She urges people to watch the interview themselves. \u201cIf not for any other reason,\u201d she said. \u201cYou should and need to watch it to understand the controversy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To watch the interview on your own time, you can stream it at: <\/span>https:\/\/www.cbs.com\/shows\/oprah-with-meghan-and-harry-a-cbs-primetime-special\/video\/i6UW_WTQjLrEeOoObMmlwrFLTTypvuZm\/cbs-presents-oprah-with-meghan-and-harry-a-primetime-special\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oprah Winfrey\u2019s two-hour interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has sparked conversations around the world, as new details about their departure from Britain were revealed. Allegations of racism, insensitivity and deep-rooted issues within the royal system have left many with questions and varying commentary. According to television network CBS, more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8273,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6636\/revisions\/8273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}