Hillary Clinton says the ‘cruelty’ the British press showed to Meghan was ‘outrageous’ and has slammed the Royals for failing to support a ‘young woman who was just trying to live her life’.
The former Secretary of State made the comments during a live event with the Washington Post on Monday, a day after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive interview with Oprah aired on CBS.
‘I found it so heart-rending to watch,’ Clinton said, adding that she had met the pair before, as well as Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
Clinton then said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to watch the ‘incredibly accomplished’ Markle be ‘not fully embraced’ not only by the ‘permanent bureaucracy that surrounds the royal family, but by the media in the UK.’
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The former Secretary of State made the comments during a live event with the Washington Post on Monday, a day after the couple’s interview with Oprah aired on CBS
Meghan said she found Royal life so difficult that she suffered mental health issues and even struggled with suicidal thoughts
The former presidential hopeful said she too is no stranger to facing off with the British press, adding: ‘I’ve had my time in the box with the British tabloids, as anybody who is in the public eye has had, and their cruelty in going after Meghan was just outrageous.
‘The fact she did not get more support that the reaction was, you know, “let’s just paper it over and pretend it didn’t happen or it will go away, just keep your head down”—well, this young woman was not going to keep her head down.
‘You know, this is 2021 and she wanted to live her life, she wanted to be fully engaged and she had every right to hope for that,’ Clinton added.
During their two hour sit-down with Oprah on Sunday, Harry and Meghan lifted the lid on life inside the British Monarchy, in which they claimed they were isolated from support structures while being vilified in the press.
Meghan said she found Royal life so difficult that she suffered mental health issues and even struggled with suicidal thoughts when she was pregnant with baby Archie.
‘I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,’ she told Winfrey. ‘And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.’
Markle also said she tried to seek help including inpatient care, but was rebuffed by a senior royal because ‘wouldn’t be good for the institution.’
The Duchess of Sussex also revealed that someone in the royal orbit had a conversation with Harry about the color of Archie’s skin before he was born.
There were ‘concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born,’ Markle told Winfrey.
Winfrey was floored, uttering, ‘What?’
‘There are several conversations,’ Markle continued. ‘Potentially and what that would mean or look like.’
Responding to the couple’s claims, Clinton said: ‘I just think that every institution … has got to make more space and acceptance for young people coming up, particularly young women, who should not be forced into a mold that is no longer relevant, not only for them but for our society.’
Clinton credited the couple for ‘standing up for themselves’ and urged the Royal family – and other similar institutions – to strive to be more accepting and forward thinking (pictured: Then-President Bill Clinton talks with the Queen as Hillary and daughter Chelsea watch on)
The 73-year-old continued that she found in incredibly difficult to watch Prince Harry and Meghan recount the difficulties they’ve endured.
‘It was heartbreaking to see the two of them sitting there having to describe how difficult it was to be accepted, to be integrated, not just into the royal family as they described, but more painfully into the larger society’s whose narrative is driven by tabloids that are living in the past,’ she said.
‘I just hope that there will be some serious, thoughtful consideration in all of the institutions, not just in response to what Meghan and Harry were talking about, but literally across all of our societies,’ Clinton added. ‘Why do we make it so hard to incorporate diversity, to celebrate it, to be proud of it?’
In summation, Clinton commended the Sussexs for ‘standing up for themselves and their young children’, and reiterated her calls for the Royal family to ‘be more dynamic and forward-looking than they currently are.’
Clinton wasn’t the only government figure to comment on the purported struggles of Meghan Markle, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also waded in on the matter Monday.
‘For anyone to come forward and speak about their own struggles with mental health and tell their own personal story — that takes courage,’ Psaki said during a daily press briefing.
She went on to explain that President Joe Biden supports speaking openly aboutl mental health and investing in such ‘areas,’ which he is ‘committed to [doing] in the future.’
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Harry and Meghan’s blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey and Monday’s press briefing
Prince Harry (left) sits with Dr. Jill Biden (right), who was then the second lady, at an Invictus Games event in 2014
Psaki then explained that she would not further comment on Markle and Harry’s interview.
‘We aren’t going to provide additional commentary from here on behalf of the president or others, given these are private citizens sharing their own story and their own struggles,’ she said.
‘Let me just reiterate that we have a strong and abiding relationship with the British people and a special partnership with the government of the United Kingdom on a range of issues, and that will continue.’
The Biden White House’s response was far friendlier than President Donald Trump’s previous assessments of Markle.
In late September, Trump had been asked by DailyMail.com about the royal couple’s unprecedented decision to weigh into the U.S. election, interpreted by many as an endorsement of his rival, Biden.
‘I’m not a fan of hers,’ he said of Markle.
‘I would say this – and she has probably has heard that – I wish a lot of luck to Harry because he’s going to need it,’ Trump said.