Which Royals Had ‘Concerns’ Over Archie’s Skin Tone? 2 Members Have Been Ruled Out

After Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah interview, viewers want to know which royal family members had “concerns” over Archie’s skin color.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for CBS’ Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special on Sunday, March 7. Many royal bombshells were revealed in the interview, but one of the most shocking was when Meghan told Oprah that several royal family members had “conversations” with Harry about how dark Archie’s skin tone would be and how that would look to the British royal family.

“There [were] conversations with Harry about how dark your baby is going to be and what that would mean or look like,” Meghan said. Oprah then followed up by asking, “They were concerned that if he were too brown that that would be a problem?” to which Meghan responded, “I wasn’t able to follow up. If that’s the assumption you’re making…that would be a safe one.”

When Oprah asked Meghan which royal family members had concerns about Archie‘s skin tone, the Duchess of Sussex declined to name the person, telling Oprah that it would be too “damaging” for them. When Oprah asked Harry about the skin tone comment later in the interview, the Duke of Sussex revealed that he would “never” share details about the conversation. He did, however, reveal that the conversation happened “early on” in his relationship with Meghan.

That conversation I’m never going to share. It was awkward. I was a bit shocked,” he said. “That was right at the beginning: ‘What will the kids look like?'”

On CBS This Morning on Monday, March 8, Oprah confirmed that Harry and Meghan didn’t share the identity of the royal family member with her after the interview, but the Duke of Sussex did confirm that it wasn’t his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip.

“He did not share the identity with me,” Oprah said. “But he wanted to make sure that I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother, nor his grandfather that were part of those conversations….He did not tell me who were a part of those conversations. As you could see I tried to get that answer, on-camera and off.”

Chris Ship, ITV News’ royal editor, also confirmed on Good Morning Britain on Monday that the Queen and Prince Philip were not the royals who made comments about Archie’s skin tone. “It was a conversation that Harry had with his family members,” he said. “I should be clear here, I’ve been told it’s not the Queen, and it’s not the Duke of Edinburgh.

Ship then speculated about the other royal members who could be close enough to Harry to make a comment about Archie’s skin color. “So that only leaves two family members. The two people you are left with is either his father Prince Charles or his brother Prince William or their wives,” Ship said, referencing Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate Middleton and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. “That’s pretty serious. “They protected the Queen throughout this. But equally they are criticising the institution of which she is head, and therefore you’re criticizing his grandmother the Queen.”

The conversation around Archie’s skin color came up when Meghan told Oprah about how the royal family decided not to give Archie a prince title. “They didn’t want him to be a prince, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” she said. “We have in tandem the conversation of, ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title.’ And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”