A frustrated Prince Charles wanted to defend himself and his family with a more detailed response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s claims during their sit-down with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month, according to a report.
Buckingham Palace released a short statement following the royal couple’s claims in the interview — that included allegations of racism — saying the family was “saddened” to hear the couple express their difficulties while living in England.
“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning,” the statement said. “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.”
The Prince of Wales has not spoken out publicly about the accusations – his son Prince William told reporters the royals are “very much not a racist family” – but apparently, he initially wanted to respond to the allegations “point by point,” according to Entertainment Tonight royal correspondent Katie Nicholl.
“My understanding is that Prince Charles did want to issue a more detailed statement to the Oprah interview and possibly address some of those issues point by point,” Nicholl said.
She said after giving it some thought, “it was decided that a shorter statement would be better, that going at things point by point could be potentially more damaging and give more ammunition for the row to continue.”
Among Harry and Meghan’s bombshell statements were accusations that someone at the palace was concerned about unborn baby Archie’s potential skin color, a claim from Harry that his father cut him off and that he stopped taking his calls.
“I think Prince Charles and Prince William were keen to correct some of the things that the couple had said,” Nicholl said.
Royal expert Robert Jobson said in a piece for Hello! magazine that he believes Charles “took the lead” in the palace’s response to the interview.
“The Queen is 94 and the Duke of Edinburgh is incapacitated, so he will be trying to placate and learn lessons from this so something can be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction,” he wrote, according to Cosmopolitan magazine.
He said the Prince of Wales drafted the “dignified” Buckingham Palace statement.
“The royal family like to do things as a team, and if the team is being trashed, they like to react as a unit and a family,” he said.
Nicholl said Charles was “particularly frustrated” at Harry’s claim he was cut off by his father after he and Meghan left the U.K.
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“If you speak to sources in Charles’ camp, that wasn’t the case,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “He did continue funding them for quite some time after they moved first to Canada and then to America. So yes, I think there was at one point the feeling that they did want to address more than just the issue of race.”
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