From using her to ‘protect’ Prince William to ‘conversations’ about son’s skin color, Meghan Markle left palace with haunting memories

Meghan Markle has no shortage of haunting memories from her time as a working royal, but some revelations are enough to make even the most devoted royalists pause.

During her now-infamous Oprah interview, Meghan peeled back the velvet curtain to reveal how the monarchy’s “never complain, never explain” mantra only seemed to apply when it was convenient. When tabloids were obsessed with her allegedly making Kate Middleton cry, the palace stood back, popcorn in hand, watching the drama unfold. “They weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband,” said Meghan. When the time came to shield Meghan and Harry from fabricated attacks, the palace vanished. But for other royals? They suddenly found their voice.

The hypocrisy wasn’t lost on Harry, whose Netflix docuseries revealed one of the more twisted royal moves in recent memory. When rumors came out that Prince William had bullied his younger brother and sister-in-law to the brink of exile, the palace was quick to issue a joint statement denying the claims. Nothing wrong with this, right? Well, Harry had no idea this statement even existed until after it was plastered across the tabloids. As he watched the machinery of royal PR grind into action for William, Harry couldn’t ignore what had been absent during years of media attacks against Meghan: basic decency.

Meghan broke down in tears when Harry told her about the palace’s sprint to defend William. Is this a thing to cry for, though? Well, apparently, it is. Because, as Harry put it, “They were happy to lie to protect my brother, but for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.” Three years. That’s a long time to be thrown under the royal bus. And for what? A shiny reputation for the heir to the throne.

And here comes the moment that left a bitter aftertaste in Meghan. Her account of “concerns and conversations” regarding how dark Archie’s skin might be before his birth still lingers as one of the most explosive accusations ever leveled against the family. Buckingham Palace dismissed it with a vague “recollections may vary.” But the moment exposed an underbelly of insensitivity that added another layer of frost to already strained relationships.

The real tragedy isn’t the blatant favoritism—it’s the pattern. When Meghan struggled with her mental health, she asked for help. What did the palace do? Denied her access to professional care. But when William’s reputation was on the line, they acted fast. One brother was handed the palace’s shield; the other, the sword. So, Meghan and Harry did what any self-respecting royals with a shred of self-preservation would do: they left. The California sunshine might not come with tiaras and staff, but it also doesn’t come with coordinated smear campaigns.

When you strip away the pomp and pageantry, the story leaves behind a hard truth: loyalty to the crown doesn’t mean loyalty to its people. For Meghan, those haunting memories are a reminder of the lengths to which the palace will go to protect its image, even if it comes at the cost of its own family.