Harry claims William and Kate 'stereotyped' Meghan as 'biracial American actress'

Prince Harry has claimed that his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate’s ‘stereotyping’ of his wife Meghan meant she was not welcomed as a member of the Royal Family.

The Duke of Sussex was speaking in tonight’s interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby.

He said that there was a ‘lot of stereotyping’ of Meghan after she was introduced to the Royal Family, because she is an ‘American actress, divorced, biracial’, adding that even he was ‘guilty’ of it.

The ITV interview with Bradby is part of a publicity blitz for his bombshell memoir Spare, which is being released on Tuesday but was leaked at the end of last week. 

Prince Harry has claimed that his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate's 'stereotyping' of his wife Meghan meant she was not welcomed as a member of the Royal Family

Prince Harry has claimed that his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate’s ‘stereotyping’ of his wife Meghan meant she was not welcomed as a member of the Royal Family

The Duke of Sussex was speaking in tonight's interview with ITV's Tom Bradby

The Duke of Sussex was speaking in tonight’s interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby

Harry and Bradby joked about how, after he introduced Meghan to his family, he discovered his family were fans of Suits, the show that she starred in during her time as an actress. 

But he said it was ‘fair’ to say that, according to Bradby, ‘almost from the get-go it’s just that they don’t get on.’ 

Asked why that was, he said: ‘Lots of – lots of different reasons but I – look, as I again detail a lot, I had put a lot of hope in the idea that, you know, it’d be William and Kate and me and whoever. 

‘I thought the – you know, the four of us would, you know, bring me and William closer together, we could go out and do work together, um, which I did a lot as the third wheel to them, um, which was fun at times but also, I guess slightly awkward at times as well. 

‘But um yeah, I think – I don’t think they were ever expecting me to get – or to become – to get into a relationship with – with someone like Meghan who had, you know, a very successful career.

He added: ‘There was a lot of stereotyping that was happening, that I was guilty of as well, at the beginning.’ 

He said the ‘stereotyping’ of Meghan, in part by William and Kate, was causing a ‘barrier’ to his family, preventing them from ‘welcoming her in.’ 

Asked what he meant, he said: ‘Well, American actress, divorced, biracial, there’s – there’s all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the press, the British tabloids, [Yeah] at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality.’

Harry and ITV's Tom Bradby joked about how, after he introduced Meghan to his family, he discovered his family were fans of Suits, the show that she starred in during her time as an actress. Above: Meghan in Suits

Harry and ITV’s Tom Bradby joked about how, after he introduced Meghan to his family, he discovered his family were fans of Suits, the show that she starred in during her time as an actress. Above: Meghan in Suits

Prince Harry saw the Princess of Wales as the sister he 'never had' - but has accused his family of 'stereotyping' his wife Meghan Markle. Above: Harry stands next to Kate and his brother on the Buckingham Palace balcony in 2013

Prince Harry saw the Princess of Wales as the sister he ‘never had’ – but has accused his family of ‘stereotyping’ his wife Meghan Markle. Above: Harry stands next to Kate and his brother on the Buckingham Palace balcony in 2013

Harry said there was a 'lot of stereotyping' of Meghan after she was introduced to the Royal Family, because she is an 'American actress, divorced, biracial', adding that even he was 'guilty' of it. Above: Meghan introduces her and Harry's newborn son Archie to the Queen, Prince Philip and her mother Doria Ragland in 2019

Harry said there was a ‘lot of stereotyping’ of Meghan after she was introduced to the Royal Family, because she is an ‘American actress, divorced, biracial’, adding that even he was ‘guilty’ of it. Above: Meghan introduces her and Harry’s newborn son Archie to the Queen, Prince Philip and her mother Doria Ragland in 2019 

Meghan was previously married to American TV producer Trevor Engelson for three years from 2011 until 2014. 

Before meeting Harry, Meghan had starred in US legal drama series Suits in which she played paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane.

Bradby said that Harry saw his brother’s wife as ‘the sister you never had’, with the pair having known each other since soon after William and Kate started dating in 2003. 

The pair are believed to have gotten on well, with Harry joining her and William on engagements before he met Meghan – although he told Bradby that whilst the events were ‘fun’, he sometimes felt ‘slightly awkward’ being the ‘third wheel’. 

Harry also said the idea of himself, his wife and the Prince and Princess of Wales being the ‘fab four’ was ‘something the British press created’ and it ‘creates competition’.

He told Bradby: ‘The idea of the four of us being together was always a hope for me. 

‘Before it was Meghan, whoever it was going to be, I always hoped that the four of us would get on.

‘But very quickly it became Meghan versus Kate.

‘And that, when it plays out so publicly, you can’t hide from that, right? Especially when within my family you have the newspapers laid out pretty much in every single palace and house that is around.’

Harry added that his brother William ‘raised some concerns’ about his marriage to Meghan before their wedding in May 2018.

He said: ‘He never tried to dissuade me from marrying Meghan, but he aired some concerns very early, and said ‘this is going to be really hard for you’ and I still to this day don’t truly understand which part of what he was talking about.

‘Maybe he predicted what the British press’s reaction was going to be.’

Harry: The Interview is available to view on ITVX.

Harry also spoke in the interview of the day of his mother’s funeral, telling how there was ‘absolutely no way’ he have let his brother walk behind his mother Princess Diana’s coffin alone.

The brothers famously walked together with their father and grandfather behind Diana’s coffin as it made its way to Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral in 1997.   

‘There’s absolutely no way that I would let him do that by himself.

‘And there’s absolutely no way that he would let me do that by, by myself. It was, if it was role reversal.’

Harry also spoke movingly of his memories of the sound of the horses’ ‘bridles chinking’ as the procession made its way down The Mall, along with the sounds of ‘gravel underneath the foot and the wails from the crowd.’ 

But he said the ‘otherwise complete silence’ will ‘stick with me forever.’ 

Harry also said that when he and his brother again walked the same route to Westminster Abbey together for the funeral of the Queen in September last year, they joked about knowing the way. 

But he added that whilst the Queen had ‘finished life’ and there was ‘respect and recognition for what she had accomplished’, Diana was ‘taken away far too young.’  

‘Just recently I was, we, my brother and I were walking the same route, and we sort of joked to each other and said, at least we know the way,’ he said. 

‘Um, but otherwise it was very similar. The only difference was the levels of emotion. Because our grandmother had finished life. 

‘There was more, I think, of a celebration and respect and recognition to what she had accomplished. Whereas our mother was taken away far too young.’ 

Earlier in the interview, in a clip shared by ITV before the programme aired, Harry revealed he only cried once over the death of his mother.  

Harry is seen joining Kate and his brother William at an engagement in 2016.  He told Bradby that while engagements with them were 'fun', he sometimes felt 'slightly awkward' being the 'third wheel'

Harry is seen joining Kate and his brother William at an engagement in 2016.  He told Bradby that while engagements with them were ‘fun’, he sometimes felt ‘slightly awkward’ being the ‘third wheel’ 

Harry is seen with his brother and the Princess of Wales at the Rugby World Cup in 2015

Harry is seen with his brother and the Princess of Wales at the Rugby World Cup in 2015 

The Duke of Sussex said he felt like he was ‘unable to show any emotion’ in public after her death in 1997, and that he had only shed tears when she was buried.

The 38-year-old told ITV‘s Tom Bradby he felt ‘some guilt’ as he greeted crowds who gathered to pay their respects to his mother outside Kensington Palace.

Earlier today, King Charles seemed in good spirits as he was seen for the first time since revelations from the Duke of Sussex’s memoir emerged.

Charles smiled and stopped to chat to well-wishers as he arrived for a service at Castle Rising Church in Norfolk on Sunday morning.

Harry speaks extensively in Spare of rifts with his family.  

The book, which was accidentally released early in Spain, contains a wealth of insights from Harry’s viewpoint, from accusing his brother the Prince of Wales of assault to asking Charles not to marry Camilla.

Where Harry claims William physically attacked him, he writes: ‘(William) called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.

Harry is seen with Kate and William attending an engagement at Paddington station in 2017

Harry is seen with Kate and William attending an engagement at Paddington station in 2017 

Harry, pictured with William and Kate to launch their Heads Together campaign in 2016, said he had dreamed 'for a long time' of becoming 'a foursome'

Harry is seen with Kate and William wearing ‘Heads Together’ headbands

‘I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.’

The Guardian reported the alleged incident took place at Harry’s then home Nottingham Cottage as William called his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’.

Harry told him he was parroting the press narrative about his wife, according to reports about the book.

Other disclosures include Harry saying he was not the real best man at William’s wedding, and that Charles was jealous of both the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales.

Harry also says the reason his father supposedly said he did not ‘have money to spare’ to financially support him and Meghan was because the King feared the ‘novel and resplendent’ American actress would steal his limelight.

He says that, prior to his engagement to Meghan, his father had raised the subject of the actress’s livelihood and asked if she planned to continue working after their marriage.

When the duke told Charles he did not believe so, Harry claims his father replied: ‘Well, my dear son, you already know that we don’t have money to spare.’

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