Key quotes: Meghan and Harry on mental health, family relations and Archie's skin tone

Jamie Johnson

March 8, 2021 at 12:36 AM·3 min read

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have given their unvarnished version of events inside the Royal household, opening up on mental health, allegations of racism, relationships with the family and avocados on toast.

These are some of the key quotes that Buckingham Palace will be poring over this morning.

"I just didn't want to be alive anymore. And that was very clear and real and frightening." - The Duchess of Sussex revealing that she had suicidal thoughts when she was a working royal.
"If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one." - The Duchess when asked if there were concerns her child would be "too brown" and that would be a problem.
"That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked." - The Duke of Sussex when pressed to disclose the content of the conversation Meghan referred to about Archie's skin tone.

“She made me cry and it really hurt my feelings.... - The Duchess addressed rumours of an argument between her and the Duchess of Cambridge. There had been reports that it was Meghan who made Kate Middleton cry, but Meghan added: "That was a turning point. That was when everything changed. "It was the beginning of the character assassination and they knew it wasn't true."
"Their justification was a change in status. I pushed back and said is there a change of threat or risk? Eventually, I got the confirmation that no, the risk hasn't changed but due to our change of status - we would no longer be 'official' members of the royal family." - Prince Harry on how their security detail was removed when they stepped back from being senior members of the royal family.
"No, I would never blindside my grandmother, I have too much respect for her." - Prince Harry when asked "did you blindside the Queen?" with the announcement they were leaving the family.
"I have lost my father, I lost a baby, I nearly lost my name, there's the loss of identity... (but) ... I'm still standing." - The Duchess says the she hopes the message people would take from the interview was "know there's another side, to know that life is worth living".
"I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out, and very sad." - the Duke on what his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, would say if she was alive.

"My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don't get to leave." - Prince Harry says his family are "trapped within the system".
"Every time those lights went down in that royal box, I was just weeping. He was gripping my hand and it was 'Okay an intermission's coming' ... and you had to just be 'on' again. You have no idea what's going on for someone behind closed doors. Even the people that smile the biggest smiles and shine the brightest lights, it seems." - the Duchess on being "haunted" by a photograph from an official event with her husband at the Royal Albert Hall while she was pregnant.
"Just grateful. To have any child, any one or any two, would have been amazing. But to have a boy and then a girl, I mean what more can you ask for? Now we've got our family, we got the four of us and our two dogs." - Prince Harry after revealing the couple are having a girl this summer.
"I've watched some of it. We've watched some of it." - Prince Harry on whether the couple have watched the Netflix royal drama The Crown.
"That's a really loaded piece of toast." - The Duchess on being told of an online story about her eating avocados which said the fruit was "linked to water shortages, illegal deforestation and environmental devastation".