After Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7 — which forced Harry’s brother, Prince William to defend the royal family against allegations of racism — Gayle King revealed that the brothers have spoken. The CBS This Morning host, who’s friends with both Oprah and Meghan, made the revelation on-air on March 16, in response to reports that Harry, William and their father Prince Charles spoke about the situation over the weekend.
.@GayleKing says Prince Harry & Meghan also shared that no one in the royal family had spoken with Meghan as of this weekend. Gayle continued, “They want healing in this family. At the end of the day, that is Harry’s family.”
“Well, I’m not trying to break news, but I did actually call them to see how they were feeling, and it’s true, Harry has talked to his brother and he has talked to his father too,” Gayle said, explaining, “The word I was given was that those conversations were not productive. But they are glad that they have at least started a conversation.”
During Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah, he explained that his relationships with both his brother and father are strained due in part to the royal family’s unwillingness to shut down negative stories in the press about his wife.
“I love William to bits…” Harry said about his brother. “We’ve been through hell together… a shared experience, but we’re on different paths. The relationship is space at the moment and time heals all things, hopefully,” he admitted.
While speaking with Oprah, Harry revealed that his father stopped taking his calls. “There’s a lot to work through there. I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar,” he said, explaining that his father “knows what pain is like. And Archie’s his grandson.” Harry added, “Of course, I will always love him, but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.”
To all of that, Gayle explained on CBS This Morning: “And I think what is still upsetting to them is the palace keep saying they want to work it out privately, but yet, they believe these false stories are coming out that are very disparaging against Meghan, still,” Gayle continued, noting that “no one in the royal family has talked to Meghan yet, at this particular time.”
Elsewhere during couple’s sit-down with Oprah, which aired on CBS, Meghan said her and Harry’s son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was denied a royal title and security protection. But, the most shocking claim came when Meghan said there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Gayle continued, “I think it’s frustrating for them to see that it’s a racial conversation about the royal family when all they wanted all along was for the royals to intervene and tell the press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant.” She continued, “And until you can acknowledge that, I think it’s going to be hard to move forward. But they both want to move forward with this and they both want healing in this family. At the end of the day, that is Harry’s family.”
On March 12, just four days after the interview aired, Prince William responded to allegations of racism while out with wife Kate Middleton. “We are very much not a racist family,” William said, adding that he hadn’t spoken to Harry at the time, though he planned to do so.
Harry and Meghan did not identify who made the comments about their son’s skin color, and implied that the fallout would be too dramatic if they did so. However, Oprah narrowed down the search following the interview, when she confirmed that it was not Harry’s grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
