Many people admire the Royal Family in the United Kingdom. The Royal Family is there to provide support for Queen Elizabeth II and to help in public works. Many people outside of the UK admire the Royal Family because of their elegant lives and charitable works. The Royal Family is a national icon for England. A common misconception is that the Royal Family members have easy lives because of their statuses. However, people around the world have learned that it isn’t as easy as it looks to be a part of the Royal Family. The entire world is watching the Royal Family as seen in  articles and pictures that travel quickly through the media. 

Recently, the controversy that has occurred in the Royal Family over the past few years has been uncovered. Oprah Winfrey interviewed Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle. This interview was highly anticipated as over 50 million people around the world watched it when it aired on March 7. During the interview, Meghan revealed how stressful it was to be a member of the Royal Family. The entire world was watching everything that she did and she was surrounded by reminders of that. Meghan mentioned that her friends and family members would tell her about things they saw in the media about her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Meghan was never allowed to speak her mind, and when people asked her about the Royal Family or anything related to that, she was always told to say, “no comment”. 

Meghan said that she considered suicide, because of how difficult it was to adapt to becoming a member of the Royal Family. She also reached out to the institution for help with her mental struggles, but no one listened to her. One of the most shocking things that was revealed during this interview was about Meghan’s pregnancy. When Meghan was pregnant with her son, Archie, she said that an unnamed individual expressed concerns about how dark the baby’s skin would be when he was born. Meghan is the first mixed-race member of the Royal Family and the media was very harsh about this. Prince Harry and Meghan have left the United Kingdom because of how different Meghan was treated in comparison to the other members of the Royal Family, and to get away from the pressures of the British press. In March 2020, Harry and Meghan moved to the United States and they are currently no longer working members of the Royal Family. 

The tensions between the Royal Family has damaged their relationships. Harry and Meghan are not as connected to their family anymore. Prince Harry said that he wanted to heal his relationships with his brother and father. The other members of the Royal Family were surprised to learn the whole truth about Harry and Meghan’s struggles. Prince William has said that the Royal Family is not racist and that he would like to talk to Harry soon. Queen Elizabeth II has said that it was upsetting to learn about Harry and Meghan’s struggles and that the racism claim will be addressed. 

All in all, this interview was an eye-opener to the public. Often, we see people with power as inhuman, and we forget that they are people too, that have feelings. This interview shows that even the Royal Family faces similar struggles that average people face. Every family has drama, no matter their status. This also shows that no one is safe from pressures that can cause suicidal thoughts. The Royal Family is more similar to every other family than we think.