- Meghan Markle described entering a gilded cage upon joining the royal family in her CBS interview.
- She said she gave up her keys, passport and driver’s license, and only got them back when she returned to the US.
- She agreed when Winfrey suggested this “trapped” her at a time when she was feeling suicidal.
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Meghan Markle told Oprah Winfrey that she had to give up her passport, driver’s license and keys when she married Prince Harry.
In an explosive interview between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Winfrey that aired Sunday night on CBS, Meghan outlined the strange sacrifices she said she had to make upon joining the British royal family.
Handing over those things meant she was “trapped” at a time when she was experiencing suicidal thoughts and had asked the royal household for help, she said. According to Meghan, that help was denied by senior palace staff.
When Winfrey asked her if she had considered checking herself in to a hospital or a mental health service, Meghan replied: “No, that’s what I was asking to do.”
But, she said: “You can’t just do that. I couldn’t, you know, call an Uber to the palace.
“You couldn’t just go,” she added. “I mean, you have to understand, as well, when I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver’s license, my keys. All that gets turned over.”
Winfrey said: “Well, the way you’re describing this, it’s like you were trapped and couldn’t get help, even though you’re on the verge of suicide. That’s what you are describing.”
Markle agreed. “That’s the truth,” she said.
Insider has approached Buckingham Palace for clarification on royal protocol over these matters, but did not immediately receive a reply.
According to Meghan, she only got these items back when the couple moved to the US.
Saying she didn’t know who to turn to for mental health support, Markle said she approached one of the late Princess Diana’s best friends for guidance.
“One of the people that I reached out to, who’s continued to be a friend and confidant, was one of my husband’s mom’s best friends, one of Diana’s best friends,” she said. “Because it’s, like, who else could understand what it’s actually like on the inside?”
Markle went on to describe how she attempted to put on a brave face even though, she said, she “didn’t want to be alive any more.”
The day that she told Harry this, she said that she carried on her royal duty by attending an event at the Royal Albert Hall — and that a photograph of her holding Harry’s hand reveal the hidden truth about how she was feeling.
“That picture, if you zoom in, what I see is how tightly his knuckles are gripped around mine,” she said. “You can see the whites of our knuckles, because we are smiling and doing our job, but we’re both just trying to hold on.”
As of Monday afternoon UK time the royal family had not responded to the interview.