Prince Harry and Meghan Aren't Practicing What They Preach

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have called for a "more informed, fact-based, and more connected world" as the debate over her royal race allegations continues.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a report on the work of their Archewell Foundation over the past year in which they described seeking "the creation of a better, more trustworthy, and diverse information environment across all forms of media."

However, this section of the 28-page document risks provoking critics who argue some of their own work as media publishers has been either misleading or partial in its account of the facts.

On November 28, royal journalist Omid Scobie's book was accidentally published early in the Netherlands, revealing King Charles III as the royal Meghan suggested commented on her unborn child's skin tone. Kate Middleton was named as being part of that confirmation.

However, the names have still not been confirmed more than two years on from the March 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview in which Meghan made the accusation and the wider context of the infamous conversation remains a mystery.

What Harry and Meghan's Impact Report Says

The Archewell Foundation Impact Report 2022-2023 contains a section that reads: "As we seek the creation of a better, more trustworthy, and diverse information environment across all forms of media, we support research and organizations creating a more informed, fact-based, and more connected world.

"We are committed to finding solutions that ensure information is trustworthy, that there is justice for those systemically undermined and disempowered, safety for those harmed, and equal representation at tables where decisions that impact all of us are made."

While the stated aims are no doubt laudable, they have been made at a time when major questions still persist over a key plank of the couple's allegations against the Monarchy.

And against the backdrop of past questions about whether Harry's book Spare gave a full, clear account of the facts in a number of sections.

Meghan Markle's Race Allegation

The duchess told Winfrey in 2021 that there were discussions in the royal family about changing the rules to deny her children prince and princess titles and police protection and was asked by her interviewer: "Do you think it's because of his race?"

Meghan replied: "I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time... so we have in tandem the conversation of, 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."

Prince Harry followed up by saying it was a conversation he would never share but suggested the remark was "what will the kids look like?"

They did not reveal the identity of the royal who asked the question, leaving multiple family members under suspicion. And they shared none of the context leaving viewers unable to decide for themselves whether they agree with Meghan's account of concern rather than curiosity.

The distinction matters in particular because countries in the Caribbean have indicated a desire to hold referenda on removing King Charles III as king and face the prospect of citizens walking into polling booths not fully understanding the nature of remarks made in the heart of the monarchy about race.

And it matters doubly since Omid Scobie's book named Charles as the royal who made the comment in its Dutch edition—though his name has not so far been confirmed officially.

Harry said in January 2023 that Meghan had not accused the royal family of racism but that they both viewed the comment in the context of unconscious bias and gave a nod to the distinction between "curiosity" and "concern."

Yet, there is still precious little factual information in the public domain to guide the public, and subjects of the king, on which version is correct. In March 2021, Queen Elizabeth II said that "recollections may vary" and Scobie's book suggests Charles wrote to Meghan at the time to say no ill will was intended.

In short, the actual facts of what took place are far from clear more than two-and-a-half years on from the moment the Sussexes first made the allegation.

But it's not just the race allegation.

Prince Harry's Account in His Book Spare

Prince Harry and Meghan have long been accused of being unreliable, including by high-profile critics such as Piers Morgan.

Newsweek has also researched a number of specific claims in Harry's book that had the potential to mislead the reader.

In one, an "ex-press secretary" to Queen Elizabeth II was accused of stating that Harry and Meghan should expect "no mercy" after they quit the palace, which the prince suggested was "the language of war."

In reality, Dickie Arbiter had simply been one of a number of people quoted in a Daily Mail story and made no reference to "no mercy."

That quote was actually attributed to different commentator, Trevor Phillips, who did not work for the queen and offered a nuanced argument about how conservatives and progressives might both turn on the Sussexes.

"They can expect no mercy from those who like things just as they are," Phillips said, "and, to be honest, they'll get short shrift from the many activists who have endured a lifetime of calumny from the media, largely without complaint."

Harry also described the inquest into Princess Diana's 1997 death in a Paris car crash as "a joke" because "the final written report was an insult."

"Above all," he wrote, "the summary conclusion, that Mummy's driver was drunk and thereby the sole cause of the crash, was convenient and absurd."

In reality, the inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, which cited a number of causes. Among them were the driving of Henri Paul, who was behind the wheel of the car Diana was a passenger in, the driving of the paparazzi, the fact Paul had consumed alcohol, the fact Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed were not wearing seatbelts and the fact the car hit a pillar rather than a crash barrier.

And the couple's Netflix show Harry & Meghan included an account of royal jealousy that was included out of sequence with real events.

The show depicts them going from adulating praise in the media during an October 2018 tour of Australia to a wave of hostile articles in November and December of that year.

Sandwiched in the middle was a clip of Harry describing how Meghan beat all the royals to the front page of the Sunday Telegraph after a Remembrance event at which all the senior family members were present.

"I went, 'Oh my God,'" Meghan said in the show, while Harry added: "She was like, 'But, it's not my fault,' And I said, 'I know. And my mum felt the same way.'"

In reality, the front page in question was published a year later, in 2019, and therefore, cannot explain the transition from the PR high of the Australia tour to the press allegations at the end of the year.

There was little in the episode to give the casual viewer the context to understand that the Telegraph splash of November 2019 was published a year later and therefore cannot have caused the hostility of November 2018.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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