The shattering revelations of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace caused much ink to flow on Monday, March 8, across the Channel.

Harry reiterated in a new clip aired on CBS that racism was "largely" the reason the couple left Britain - and he accused the scandalous British press of being "toxic ".

“The UK is not fanatic,” he said.

"The British press is fanatic, especially the tabloids."

"I know from experience the sexism and racism that institutions and the media show to defame women and people of color in order to minimize us, destroy us and demonize us," reacted Monday on social networks. tennis player Serena Williams, also friend of Meghan Markle.

"We must recognize our obligation to speak out against malicious and unfounded gossip and tabloid journalism."

#EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry reveals to @Oprah a “large part of” the reason he and Meghan left the UK was because of racism.

#OprahMeghanHarry pic.twitter.com/ksAZWargg1

- CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 8, 2021

In the British tabloids, precisely, the interview of the Meghan-Harry couple also caused a reaction.

Piers Morgan, one of the couple's most vocal critics, denounced in the Daily Mail Online the lack of "details" of the racist remarks reported.

"Would an elderly royal who innocently ask Harry what skin color their baby have, given that Meghan's mother is black and her father white, constitute racism?" , who is one of the kings of the British tabloid press.

"That would be the case if the question sounded derogatory or implied that the color of the child's skin was a problem. But we don't know the answers to these essential questions, because after we launched the bomb of racism , the Sussexes won't say more. "

In the rest of the British press, we come back to the explosive nature of the interview given by the couple to the famous host Oprah Winfrey.

"Whatever the royal family expected from this interview, it was worse," The Times daily reacted on Monday.

"Meghan suffered from suicidal tendencies. She was worried about her mental well-being. She cried at an official engagement. And the royal family did not help", developed the title, evoking "damaging allegations".

For the BBC, "it is a devastating interview" which reveals "the terrible pressures within the Palace" and draws up "the image of insensitive individuals lost in an institution" which is just as much.

Racism accusation against the Princess of Kent in 2017

The royal family is not their first accusation of racism with this interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The wife of Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, had already been controversial during the royal Christmas lunch at the end of 2017. The Princess of Kent, during her first official meeting with Meghan Markle, then wore a brooch. racist because representing the bust of a black woman wearing a turban and a gold dress.

"The princess is really sorry and saddened that this could have offended," then reacted her spokesperson.

Regarding the words of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Buckingham Palace had still not officially reacted at the time of writing this article, unlike several militant feminist voices.

"Royalty is not a shield against the devastation and despair of racism," tweeted Bernice King, daughter of famous American civil rights activist Martin Luther King.

In Britain, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, political activist and women's rights advocate, told the BBC that many white viewers would deny that what Meghan Markle experienced was racism because "racism is so normalized" .

People "want to deny that the royal family as an institution is rooted in colonialism, racism and white supremacy," she added.

British power is keeping its distance from current events around the royal family.

The Downing Street spokesman first said on Monday that "neither (Boris Johnson) nor (he) (have) seen the interview", while adding that the Prime Minister had already said in the past, that there is "no room for racism" in British society.

Then Boris Johnson, at a press conference on Monday afternoon, expressed "(s) greater admiration for Queen" Elizabeth II and her "unifying role" on this Commonwealth Day in the United Kingdom. United.

And he added: "As for the rest, all other matters pertaining to the royal family, I have spent a lot of time not commenting on (these) matters and I have no intention of straying (from this policy) today. "

Concerns within the royal family over Archie's skin color

The expected interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry cast a harsh light on the inner workings of the British royal family on Sunday.

Suspicions of racism, among other subjects, were raised by the couple who distanced themselves, at the beginning of January, with "the Firm" - nickname of the royal family.

In front of Oprah Winfrey, who was incredulous and shocked, Meghan Markle recounted conversations reported to her about the skin color of her son, Archie, before he was born.

Harry was told "of concerns and conversations (...) about how dark his skin (would be) when he (was born)", "what that would mean and what that would look like", a- she explained, without wanting to give the identity of the person or people who had this exchange with her husband because "it would be very damaging for them".

The extract that hurts a lot: when members of the royal family wonder about the skin color (“how dark is skin might be?”) Of Meghan and Harry's son pic.twitter.com/JHgFp7mfRl #MeghanMarkle # MeghanandHarryonOprah

- Thomas Donzel (@thomasdonzel) March 8, 2021

"It was strange," Harry said of this conversation, "I was in shock."

The prince also refused to reveal who was behind the comments.

Oprah Winfrey, however, clarified that the prince told her it was neither her grandparents, nor Queen Elizabeth II, nor her husband, Prince Philip.

Born to a black mother and a white father, Meghan added that her son Archie, who will turn two in May, was denied the title of prince because, before his birth, of these concerns within the royal family on his skin color.

With AFP, Reuters and AP

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