In March of 2021, Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle sat down for an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey about their experience with the royal family and their decision to step back and move to California soon after the birth of their son. The on-air conversation had a number of revealing moments that put Harry’s father King Charles, his brother Prince William, and his grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth in a less-than-flattering light.
With the Queen’s passing, the crown has moved to Charles and his coronation is in May. There has been a lot of speculation on whether or not Harry and Meghan will attend, but UK’s Daily Telegraph reported some new information about family relations. They claim Meghan wrote directly to Charles soon after the Oprah interview aired to try and mend fences.
One of the uglier things the royal family was accused of by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was that while Meghan was pregnant with Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born.”
In her letter to Charles, Meghan allegedly wrote she was not trying to accuse one specific person of racism, but was concerned about unconscious bias. Charles did supposedly reply, saying he was disappointed she’d stated this so publicly and in the continuing family split.
Both Charles and Meghan apparently agreed the remark on skin tone had been “an innocent observation.”
Just the same, the Duchess will not be attending the coronation on May 6. The event takes place during Archie’s birthday, as well, and she will be home to care for their youngest Lilibet, too. Harry will be in attendance for the service by himself with plans to head back to California immediately afterwards and will not be taking part in any other events around the ceremony.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.