Prince Harry Opens Up About How The Royal Family Reacted To Meghan Markle's Suicidal Thoughts
Prince Harry has spoken out about his famous family's response to his wife, Meghan Markle sharing that she had been experiencing suicidal thoughts. Meghan got extremely candid about her mental health in the couple's now infamous March tell-all with Oprah Winfrey. "I was really ashamed to have to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially because I know how much loss he's suffered, but I knew that if I didn't say it that I would do it," Meghan told Winfrey (per CBS News), candidly confessing there was a time she "just didn't want to be alive anymore."
Meghan also shared how she allegedly went to the royal family — who she referred to as the "institution" — for help, claiming she spoke to "one of the most senior people" about how she was feeling. "I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help, that I had never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere," she claimed, but said she was supposedly told she couldn't because it "wouldn't be good for the institution."
Harry has since opened up more about the royal family's reaction to Meghan's brave mental health confessions. Read on for what he's saying now.
Prince Harry claimed the royal family responded with 'total silence' to Meghan Markle's confessions
Speaking again to Oprah Winfrey, this time as part of the AppleTV+ show "The Me You Can't See," Prince Harry claimed that Meghan Markle was met with "silence" when she expressed her suicidal thoughts. "I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence, total neglect," he claimed. "We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job. But Meghan was struggling."
Harry also doubled down on his claims of feeling "trapped" within the family and explained he made the decision to step back as a senior royal for Meghan and their son, Archie. He claimed he was told by an unnamed person, "'You can't do this,'" to which he responded, "'Well how bad does it have to get until I am allowed to do this?' [Meghan] was going to end her life. It shouldn't have to get to that."
The royal family have not yet spoken out regarding Harry's latest claims, but issued a statement in March following the original Winfrey interview. It read (via Daily Mail), "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," while noting the trio would "always be much loved family members."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).