Prince Harry and Meghan's Response to Race Bombshell Is 'Surreal'

A new book's claim that "no hard feelings" exist between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and King Charles III over the royal racism scandal that erupted from the couple's 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey places the public in a "surreal position" of closing a chapter without knowing the true facts, a British morning show has heard.

The couple's revelation during their interview with Winfrey that there had been "concerns and conversations" within the royal family about the skin color of their future children when starting a family saw a wave of anti-racist criticism directed at the monarchy, which continues nearly three years on.

At the time of the interview, Queen Elizabeth II issued a statement calling the issues raised "particularly that of race" "concerning," which did little to assuage speculation over the true identity of the "royal racist."

In 2023, Harry highlighted to an interviewer that he and Meghan hadn't used the word "racist," to describe the comments and attributed the furor around the Winfrey interview to the "British press." He added that the royal family member's comments had been an example of "unconscious bias" that needed to be addressed.

Now, a new book by Harry and Meghan biographer Omid Scobie, titled Endgame, has claimed that the identities of royals accused in the incident were revealed in letters exchanged between the duchess and her father-in-law, King Charles III. The author writes that U.K. laws prevent him from disclosing these names.

Citing a "royal insider," Scobie told readers that the king had wanted to "clear up" the issue of the conversations around Prince Archie's birth, and that the letters with Meghan were "a respectful back and forth."

"I don't know if either saw eye to eye in the end, but at least a feeling that both had been heard," the source told Scobie.

"Since then, said a source close to the two families," he continued, "the pair have had pleasant, if occasional, exchanges."

Discussing this response and development in the royal relationships, Newsweek's chief royal correspondent told Sky News' morning anchor Kay Burley on Tuesday, that the idea the royals have somehow moved on from this global headline-dominating issue leaves the public in an awkward position.

"He paints it that they've all kind of moved on from this massive bombshell that absolutely set the world on fire in March 2021," he said of Scobie.

"Which is a very surreal position to be in for the public and for society more widely."

"We still have no real idea of exactly what happened," he explained. "What was said and how we should receive it. And it was the most compelling public interest component of the 2021 Oprah interview."

In addition to Harry and Meghan's interactions with King Charles, Scobie also explores the couple's strained relationships with in-laws William and Kate—the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Among the details revealed in Endgame, Scobie cites inside sources who claimed that Kate was "no fan" of Meghan and that the princess "spent more time talking about Meghan than talking to her."

Speaking to Burley on Tuesday, Royston noted that "people who are big fans of Kate will be upset by some of the stuff in the book, there's no doubt about it."

So far, a "no comment" position on the book and its claims has been adopted by both the U.K. royals and Harry and Meghan.

Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace and representatives of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex via email for comment.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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