Prince Harry feels ‘let down’ by family as shocking Oprah interview reveals treatment by royals

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have hit out at the monarchy in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, with Prince Harry stating he feels ‘let down’ by his family. Harry and Meghan’s candid televised interview unleashed several dramatic revelations and admissions, including accusations of racism and the Duchess revealing she contemplated taking her own life while pregnant. During the interview, Harry spoke of his fractured relationship with his father, the Prince of Wales, and his family’s reaction to his decision about stepping down as a senior royal. ‘I feel really let down’ Asked about their decision to step down as senior member of the royal family, the Duke of Sussex denied he had “blindsided” the Queen with the bombshell statement, and said he would never do that as he has “too much respect” for his grandmother. He suggested that the story “probably could have come from within the institution”. Harry went on to say that his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking his phone calls while he and Meghan were in Canada in the build-up to the announcement. The Duke blamed a “lack of support and lack of understanding” for the couple’s decision to leave. Meghan explained that the couple had discussed their decision to step down with the Queen “several times” over the course of two years, and the night before the statement came out. Harry added that while in Canada he had three conversations with his grandmother and two with his father, before he stopped taking his calls. He said Prince Charles asked for him to put his plan “in writing”, and said he “put all the specifics in there, even the fact that we were planning on putting the announcement out on the 7th of January”. Speaking about why his father stopped answering his calls, Harry said: “Because I took matters… by that point I’d took matters into my own hands. “It was, like, I needed to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s got to this point. “But I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s and for Archie’s as well, because I could see where this was headed.” Commenting on his father, he went on to say that he felt let down by Charles and that “there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened”. He said: “I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson. “But at the same time - I will always love him - but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship. “But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.” Rift with the Duke of Cambridge Harry also went on to say that his relationship with his brother William is still fractured, but hoped time would help things to heal. He said: “The relationship is ‘space’ at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully.” The Duke did not criticise his brother, and echoed past comments, saying: “I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together, we have a shared experience, but we were on different paths. In the interview, Harry also added that he had been “trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are”, stating: “My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave.”