Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently sat down with Oprah in their first official public appearance since their split from the Royal Family. Photo from cnet.com.
“I am everywhere but I am nowhere,” Meghan Markle said in reference to her portrayal in the media, and how stifled she felt by the royal family institution.
Less than a month after confirming that Markle and Prince Harry have permanently stepped down from their role as working royals, “CBS Presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry” aired on Sunday, March 7. Markle sat down with Winfrey and was later joined by her husband as they shared their side of the story on their experiences with the royal family, the British press and what ultimately led to them stepping down.
Some of the most shocking revelations were that unnamed members of the royal family had discussions about the darkness of their son’s skin color while Markle was pregnant, and that the Duchess of Cambridge had made Markle cry in the days leading up to the royal wedding. The media had published and perpetuated a story that claimed that Markle had made the duchess cry instead, and nobody in the institution corrected the false claims. She referred to this as the “beginning of a real character assassination” that she faced and is still facing.
A lot of parallels have been drawn to, and were noted in the interview by Harry, between his mother, the late Princess Diana and Markle. Both of them married into the royal family and were great at their royal duties, creating a human connection with those in the Commonwealth, but were consistently slandered in the press. The fear of Markle facing a similar fate to his mother and the lack of protection they were receiving led them to step down, according to the couple. However, Harry pointed out important added layers when making comparisons that make Markle’s situation more “dangerous,” one of which being race.
Markle is a woman of mixed race, making her the first person of color to become a member of the royal family. Their son, Archie, became the first child of color born into the royal family. They are currently expecting a daughter, but Archie is the first of the heir (Prince Charles) to the throne’s grandchildren to not be given the title of prince, despite the fact that he is seventh in the line of succession. Markle said she was not given any reason as to why he was not given this title, and the security that comes along with it, but speculations were made that race was a factor.
The double standard that Markle faced in the media has been pointed out time and time again. She is constantly compared to her white sister-in-law, and she rarely favors well. According to Markle, the treatment from the media combined with lack of support from within the royal family and the institution led to suicidal thoughts and eventually, them stepping down.
What we can all learn from this interview goes far beyond the issues within the royal family and how the media treated Markle, but the way the media and society treats Black women in particular.
Longtime friend of Markle and legendary tennis player Serena Williams shared a statement on social media in regards to the interview and the treatment of women like herself and Markle.
“I know firsthand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of color to minimize us, to break us down and demonize us,” Williams wrote. “I want Meghan’s daughter, my daughter and your daughter to live in a society that is driven by respect.”
During the 2018 U.S. Open final match, Williams yelled at an umpire who she believed was making sexist calls against her, claiming that male athletes would just be given a warning whereas she was being penalized. She was vilified in the media for this behavior, and among the reports came an infamous racist cartoon in an Australian newspaper. What has happened, and is still happening, to Markle and Williams has plagued Black women for years before social media exacerbated the issue.
The label of angry Black woman has not just affected famous women like Williams or Michelle Obama, but affects Black women in their day-to-day life. When the media perpetuates it, while giving men, and even white women, the ability to be angry without the same scrutiny, it allows the negative stereotype to carry on. Unlike the case of Williams, sometimes the angry Black woman trope falls on those who wouldn’t usually be considered angry. Markle was accused of being a “bridezilla” in the press without any evidence or substance to the claims, yet they were still believed by many. Markle spoke about the importance of representation, and the representation she brings as a duchess and woman of color, a title that she still holds. She shared that she reads a book to her son that includes the line “if you can see it, you can be it.”
If all Black girls and women are seeing in the media are negative stereotypes and wrongful depictions of them, then what are they supposed to believe they can be? We must work to create a media environment in which they never have to be everywhere but nowhere again.