Meghan Markle has spoken about alleged royal concern over her son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's skin colour.
Discussing why he wasn't labelled a prince after he was born, during her groundbreaking TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, The Duchess of Sussex refused to rule out suggestions his race could have played a part.
During Meghan and Prince Harry's much anticipated two hour CBS interview with the talk show host, Oprah asked: "How did they explain to you that your son - the great grandson of The Queen - wasn't going to be a prince?
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"You certainly must have had some conversations with Harry about it, and had your own suspicions as to why they didn't want to make Archie a prince?"
With a sigh, Meghan replied: "I heard a lot of it through Harry and parts of it in conversations through family members.
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"All the grandeur surrounding this stuff is an attachment that I don't personally have. I'm clear of who I am independent of all that stuff and the most important title I will always have is mum, but the idea of our son not being safe [due to less security because of his title]
"And also the idea of the first member of colour in that family not being safe in the way another grandchild would be..."
Typically, children and grandchildren of Sovereign are given HRH status automatically, while great-grandchildren are only handed the label with express word from The Queen - as we saw with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
This means that, without The Queen's intervention, Archie won't be given an HRH label until his grandfather, Prince Charles becomes King.
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"We heard it was you and Harry who didn't want Archie to have a prince title?," Oprah interrupted.
"No, its not our decision to make," she said. "I have a lot of clarity of what comes with the title, good or bad, and I wouldn't wish pain on my child, but that is their birthright."
"Do you think its because of his race?," Oprah asked.
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"I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, all around the same time we have in tandem the conversation of he won't be given security, he won't be given a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born."
"Who was having that conversation with you? What?," asked a visibly shocked Oprah.
"So, um... there are several conversations about it with Harry," Meghan responded.
"About how dark your baby is going to be?," followed up Oprah.
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"Potentially, and what that would mean or look like," she explained. "It was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him."
"And you're not going to tell me who had the conversation?," the host asked.
"I think that would be very damaging to them," the Duchess replied.
When Oprah pushed if there was concern about Archie being "too brown", Meghan said: "If thats the assumption you were making I think that would be a safe one."
Expressing disappointment at the Royal Family's alleged attitude towards their son's race, she mused: "Growing up a a little girl of colour I know how important representation is. I know how you want to see people who looks like you in certain positions..."
Prince Harry was also asked about the shocking conversation regarding his son's skin colour when he appeared on screen later on in the chat.
"That conversation I'm never going to share," he said firmly. "At the time it was awkward and I was a bit shocked. That was right at the beginning.
"There was some real obvious signs before we even got married that this was gonna be really hard".
In the special, Oprah also spoke with Meghan about her marriage, motherhood and philanthropic work. Plus, the couple revealed they were having a little girl.
There was also a heartbreaking moment where Meghan discussed the vitriol she received from the media, and criticised the team working with the Royal Family for failing to put untrue headlines to bed.
The Duchess even heartbreakingly revealed she was left feeling suicidal as a result of her experiences as a royal, adding that if she hadn't left things could have taken a very dark turn.
Prince Harry later discussed his mother, Princess Diana. On how she was treated after leaving the Royal Family, the Prince candidly said: "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 imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago, because it's been unbelievably tough for the two of us but at least we had each other."
The interview is currently being broadcast in the US on CBS, and is set to be shown here in the UK on Monday at 9pm on ITV.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from their Royal duties last year.
In an official statement, the pair announced: "After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.
"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."
Harry and Meghan haven't shied away from discussing the pressures of life in the public eye in the past.
Speaking in their ITV documentary filmed in South Africa in October 2019, former Suits actress Meghan admitted to feeling "really vulnerable" facing negative headlines when pregnant, and while raising her son Archie.
Meanwhile, Harry has said that living in the spotlight has meant that the death of his mother, Princess Diana, was still a "wound that festers".
Featured Image Credit: CBS/PATopics: TV News, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle