Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, accused the British royal family of racism, lying and pushing her to the brink of suicide in an explosive televised interview that looks set to shake the monarchy to its core.

The 39-year-old, whose mother is black and father white, said she was naive before she married into the family in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self-harm after pleading for help but getting none.

She added that her son Archie, now aged one, was denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family about how dark his skin might be.

“They didn’t want him to be a prince,” Ms. Meghan said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, aired on CBS late on Sunday.

She added that there were “conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

Ms. Meghan declined to say who had aired such concerns, as did Harry, who said his family had cut them off financially and that his father, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, had let him down and refused to take his calls at one point.

Buckingham Palace has yet to comment publicly on the interview, which aired in the early hours of Monday morning in Britain.

Ms. Meghan cast the British royal family as uncaring and mendacious and accused Ms. Kate – the wife of her husband’s brother, Prince William – of making her cry before her wedding.

While the family, including Prince Charles, came in for open criticism, neither Mr. Harry nor Ms. Meghan attacked Queen Elizabeth directly.

Still, Ms. Meghan said she was silenced by “the Firm” – which Elizabeth heads – and that her pleas for help while in distress at racist reporting and her predicament had fallen on deaf ears.

“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he (Harry) just cradled me,” Ms. Meghan said, wiping away tears.

The couple’s announcement in January 2020 that they intended to step down from their royal roles plunged the family into crisis.

Last month, Buckingham Palace confirmed the split would be permanent, as the couple looks to forge an independent life in the United States.