Many people tuned into Oprah Winfrey's interview with Meghan Markle and her husband, Duke of Sussex Harry Windsor on Sunday night.
The interview featured a number of eye-opening moments as Markle revealed how difficult it was for her to manage the public and private vitriol directed toward her amid news of her engagement to Windsor.
The couple covered a lot of ground with Winfrey but a few moments stood out to many, including internal royal discussions about how dark the couple's first son, Archie, would be as well as the gender of the couple's second baby.
1. Unsettling comments about baby Archie's skin tone
One moment that had the internet taking and even had Winfrey slack-jawed was when Markle revealed that Windsor's family members had multiple discussions with him about how the baby would look and how dark his skin color would be.
"There were concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie's] skin might be," Markle said.
When Winfrey pressed both about who said that, both Markle and Windsor refused to say, noting that it would have a negative impact on the person's life.
"I think that would be very damaging to them," Markle said when Winfrey asked who was concerned about Archie's skin color.
Winfrey later appeared on CBS This Morning and said she followed up with Windsor after the interview about the matter. Windsor told Winfrey that it was not his grandmother, the Queen of England, or his grandfather who participated in the discussion about Archie's skin color.
Many people online began to speculate about the culprit, and Windsor's note to Winfrey led many to believe it was either his father, Prince Charles, or his brother, Prince William.
"That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time, it was awkward, I was a bit shocked," Windsor told Winfrey.
"What will the kids look like? That was at the beginning when she wasn't going to get security, when my family suggested that she might continue acting (because there wasn't going to be money for her)," he added.
2. Larger conversations about Archie
The skin color conversation began because Markle was explaining how Archie would be treated differently than other royals.
"We were very scared having to offer up our baby, knowing they weren't going to be kept safe. In those months when I was pregnant, all around the same time…we have in tandem the conversation of [whether] he won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title," Markle said.
'Archie having a Prince title is not our decision to make' – Megan Markle tells Oprah
"The Firm" didn't treat this young family well, it seems#HarryandMeghanonOprah Prince Harry #OprahMeghanHarry
pic.twitter.com/1HfQUseB1H— Maiestas Ⓜ️ (@Ebenezer_Peegah) March 8, 2021
Markle did not say it outright, but she implied that all of these changes were being made simply because Archie was part Black.
3. Markle's mental health crisis
Markle said the vicious press scrutiny and discrimination she faced from other royals left her in a dark place, and she told Winfrey that she considered suicide.
"I just didn't want to be alive anymore," she told Winfrey.
She went on to say that it was difficult to tell Windsor about her suicidal thoughts because she knew that he had already lived through the death of his mother.
"But I knew that if I didn't say it, I would do it," Markle said.
A number of celebrities, like tennis legend Serena Williams, came out to defend her friend and show her support.
"Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life – and leads by example – with empathy and compassion. She teaches me every day what it means to truly be noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she's experienced," Williams said in a tweet.
4. Windsor says his father, Prince Charles, cut him off
A significant part of the interview focused on how Windsor's family reacted to his marriage to Markle. Windsor at one point said his father stopped taking his calls and effectively cut him off financially because of his decision to marry her.
"For us, for this union and the specifics around her race, there was an opportunity — many opportunities — for my family to show some public support," Windsor said.
"One of the most telling parts and the saddest parts, I guess, was over 70 female members of Parliament, both Conservative and Labour, came out and called out the colonial undertones of articles and headlines written about Meghan. Yet no one from my family ever said anything. That hurts," Windsor added.
Markle noted that some of Windsor's family members began leaking things about her to the press to make her look bad. In one instance, she said her sister-in-law, Kate, leaked an argument they had over wedding dresses to the press, claiming Markle "made her cry."
But Markle said it was the opposite, with her sister-in-law actually bringing her to tears before her own wedding.
5. Awful press treatment
Both Windsor and Markle did not hold back in criticizing how poorly the British press continues to treat her. The outlandish and disrespectful press conduct toward Markle has been widely documented by dozens of news outlets
"It takes living in her shoes, in this instance, for a day or those first eight days to see where it was going to go and how far they were going to take it, and get away with it," Windsor said.
Markle noted that her sister-in-law also faced unfair press treatment but not to the level that she dealt with.
"Kate was called Waity Katie, waiting to marry William, while I imagine that was really hard & I do… this is not the same & if a member of his family will comfortably say we've all had to deal with things that are rude. Rude & racist are not the same," Markle said.
"Kate was called Waity Katie, waiting to marry William, while I imagine that was really hard & I do… this is not the same & if a member of his family will comfortably say we've all had to deal with things that are rude. Rude & racist are not the same." —Meghan #OprahMeghanHarry
pic.twitter.com/2QWtDh24ef— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 8, 2021
6. Tyler Perry offered his security services
When the couple's security privileges were revoked upon news they'd be departing from their titles, Tyler Perry, a friend of the two, offered them a home and security. They stayed at his California home for three months.
“We didn’t have a plan," Meghan said. "[He] gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we were going to do."
7. A baby girl is on the way
One of the more positive anecdotes to come out of the interview was that the couple will be having a baby girl this summer.
JUST IN: Meghan and Harry announce they're having a girl. https://t.co/i9QLlH689P
pic.twitter.com/LOHRQmmDhT— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 8, 2021
Reactions to the revelatory interview continue to take over Twitter as well as morning talk shows.