Response from Meghan Markle to Leaked Letter from King Charles Concerning Racism

A letter allegedly written by Meghan Markle and delivered to King Charles III -- in which she named a "senior" royal who expressed "concerns" about the skin tone of her son, Archie -- made their way into a UK newspaper and sparked outrage among royal correspondents, leading to accusations Meghan leaked the letter. The Duchess of Sussex's spokesperson, however, tells the media that such a claim is "false and frankly ridiculous."

The royal controversy started when The Telegraph published a report on Friday night that claimed Charles wrote to Meghan after she and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. According to the source, Meghan disclosed to Oprah that there had been "concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born." She then wrote to the then-Prince of Wales to express her concerns about "unconscious bias" and racism.

According to The Telegraph, "it is understood that the King and the Duchess both acknowledged that the individual's remark was not made with malice."

After the article was released, royal reporters and royal supporters accused Meghan of leaking the letter on social media. Most notably, Valentine Low, The Sunday Times' royal writer, even posed the following Twitter query: "The question is, why would the Sussex camp want to leak all this? Is Meghan attempting to stop Harry and his father from making up? And it's interesting that they would use the type of briefing they decried in others.

Low later clarified his remarks on Twitter, writing, "It seems I was wrong in thinking that it came from the Sussex camp given that legal letters have been delivered by the Sussexes' lawyers as well as the palace's since the story was published. I'm sorry to everyone for that. But more intriguing still!"

According to a statement released to the media by a spokesperson for Meghan, "The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago." The official continued, "Any insinuation to the contrary is untrue and just absurd. We admonish tabloid media and various royal reporters to put an end to the tiresome circus they are generating on their own.

Just a few short weeks remain till Charles is crowned king on May 6 in London. Meghan won't be there; she'll be remaining with the couple's two kids, Archie, who is 4 on the day of the coronation, and Lilibet, who is 1 years old, at their home in Montecito, California.

According to a family-related source who spoke to the media, Prince William has "no interest" in interacting with the Spare author before the festivities.