One week after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gave an explosive tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey, the television personality’s best friend Gayle King is speaking out to discuss the conversation she had with the couple after their special aired.
“Well, I’m not trying to break news, but I did actually call them to see how they were feeling,” King admitted, according to Entertainment Tonight. “It’s true, Harry has talked to his brother and he has talked to his father, too.”
“The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive, but they are glad they have at least started a conversation,” she added.
King went on to say that Harry and Meghan are still upset with Buckingham Palace, claiming there are “false stories” that are “disparaging against Meghan” that are still coming out in the wake of the interview.
“No one in the royal family has talked to Meghan yet at this particular time,” King continued. “I think it’s frustrating to [Harry and Meghan] to see it’s a racial conversation about the royal family when all they wanted all along was for the royals to intervene and tell the press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate false stories that definitely have a racial slant. Until you can acknowledge that, I think it’s hard to move forward. But they both want to move forward with this and they both want healing in this family. At the end of the day, that’s Harry’s family.”
King then praised Meghan for how she’s handled allegations that she bullied her royal aides, saying, “Anyone who has worked with her will tell you exactly who she is. She’s really a very sweet, caring person. And as I say, Meghan has documents to back up everything she said on Oprah’s interview.”
During their interview, Meghan claimed that she was hit with racism from within the royal family, claiming that an unnamed senior royal questioned how dark her then-unborn son Archie’s skin would be. Harry refused to name this family member, only saying that it was neither Queen Elizabeth nor Prince Philip. Meghan also claimed that she felt so isolated as a royal that she considered committing suicide at one point during her pregnancy.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the royal family said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “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.”