Prince Harry Reveals to Oprah How Princess Diana Would Have Reacted to Royal Exit With Meghan Markle

During Sunday night’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS, Prince Harry opened up about the treatment he and his wife, Meghan Markle, endured by the Royal Family that led to their official exit last year. Sharing candid details and accounts from monarchy members, Harry opened up about how his late mother, Princess Diana would have responded to his departure from the royal life.

“I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out and very sad, but ultimately, all she’d ever want is for us to be happy,” Harry said while seated alongside his wife, Markle. “I brought what my mom left me and without that, we would not have been able to do this, so touching back on what my mother would think of this, I think she saw it coming. I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process.”

The 36-year-old went on to compare his wife Markle’s difficulties with the royals with that of his mother’s previous — and very public — battles. “You know, for me, I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here, talking to you with my wife by my side because I can’t begin to imagine what it must’ve been like for [my mother] going through this process by herself all those years ago,” he said.

With his biggest concern being that “history [was] repeating itself,” Harry’s wife went on to tell Winfrey she had contemplated suicide over the constant barrage of abuse toward her by the British tabloids and press. Admitting how it was “almost unsurvivable,” Markle “just didn’t see a solution” at the time and when she realized she “wasn’t being protected” by the royal family, she shared the shocking revelation: “I didn’t want to be alive anymore.”

“I just didn’t see a solution. I would sit up at night, and I was just — I don’t understand how all of this is being churned out,” she explained. “I realized that it was all happening just because I was breathing. I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry, especially, because I know how much loss he’s suffered. But I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.”

Calling her suicidal ideation as “very clear,” “methodical” and not “some abstract idea,” she and Harry approached the “the institution” and the palace’s human resources department to seek mental health help. It was then that she was denied any assistance. “I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help and said that I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” Markle recalled. “They said, ‘My heart goes out to you, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee of the institution.’”

If you missed the Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, you can watch it on CBS, the CBS app and stream it on Paramount+. For more with the former royals, stay tuned to PopCulture.com for the latest.

If you or someone you know are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.