Harry and Meghan say concerns were raised by unnamed family member over how dark Archie’s skin would be

Duchess wouldn’t reveal who raised the topic, saying it ‘would be very damaging to them’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have revealed there were “concerns” raised during Meghan’s pregnancy about “how dark” their baby’s skin might be.

Speaking during a no-holds-barred interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on CBS on Sunday night, Meghan said she was concerned about a number of issues that concerned the future of her unborn child.

“In those months when I was pregnant ... 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,” she said during the interview.

Oprah asked:“Who is having that conversation?”

“That was relayed to me from Harry from conversations that family had with him,” Meghan replied.

The Duchess said she was baffled by this alleged side-lining of her future child in the royal hierarchy, and the risk a lack of security could put them in.

“We haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder,” Meghan said. “We’ve allowed that happen, which means our son needs to be safe.”

Joining Meghan and Oprah after the first hour of the interview, Prince Harry also said he had been aware of conversations about the colour of his child’s skin.

“That conversation I am never going to share ... but at the time it was awkward, I was in shock,” Harry said.

The Prince refused to be drawn on the matter further, telling Oprah he was not comfortable sharing what the question was but said it concerned what their children would look like.

“There were some real obvious signs before we got married, that this was going to be really hard,” he said.

During the interview, Meghan also suggested that the couple hadn’t, as some had reported, decided to avoid a royal photo opportunity after their son Archie was born, but rather the couple were not asked to take a picture. Even if it had gone forward, Meghan said she was worried for his safety.

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“We weren’t asked to take a picture. That’s also part of the spin,” she told Oprah. “There was a lot of fear surrounding it. I was very scared of having to offer up our baby, knowing they weren’t going to be kept safe.”

The Independent has reached out to the royal family for comment about these allegations.

Oprah reacted with shock to the description of what Meghan said she had heard, and asked what she acknowledged was a “loaded question”: did she think her child would be treated differently if he didn’t have a biracial parent? Meghan has an African-American mother and a white father.

Meghan said she “wasn’t able to follow up” on why those conversations were happening about her future child, but acknowledged that discrimination was a reasonable inference.

Much of the information came to her second-hand, Meghan said, “relayed to me from Harry”, following conversations within the “family”.

Asked who exactly it was having these conversations, the Duchess replied that she wouldn’t reveal their identity, saying it “would be very damaging to them”.

Continuing to speak on the issue of bias, Harry acknowledged that he hadn’t always been aware of it.

“I’ve spent many years doing the work and doing my own learning,” he said. “But then my upbringing and the system, in which I was brought up in, and what I’ve been exposed to, I wasn’t aware of it to start with. But my God, it doesn’t take very long to suddenly become aware of it.”

The Duchess is currently pregnant with her and Prince Harry’s second child, whom the couple have confirmed is a girl.