Britain’s monarchy maintained its silence on Tuesday, after Meghan and Prince Harry accused a royal family member of making a racist remark about their son in Oprah Winfrey’s tell-all TV interview. Meghan had also said at one point she had contemplated suicide creating a major embarrassment for Buckingham Palace.

Meghan, who was born to a Black mother and a white father, said in the TV interview that her two-year-old son Archie had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family “about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.

Queen Elizabeth, who is 94 and has been on the throne for 69 years, wanted to take some time before the palace issued a response, according to a Reuters report that quoted a royal source.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had the highest admiration for the queen but he did not want to comment on the interview.

British media reports said the royals are facing the biggest public relations crisis since the death of Harry’s mother Diana in 1997.

The Times carried a lead article titled “Royal Attack which said: “It could hardly be more damaging to the royal family, not least because there is little it can do to defend itself.”  The article reasoned that “the key to the monarchy’s survival over the centuries has been its ability to adapt to the needs of the times. It needs to adapt again.” 

Leading British tabloid Daily Mail carried a blazing headline : “What Have They Done?” while its arch rival  Daily Mirror said: “Worst Royal Crisis in 85 Years.”

Meghan and Harry have earlier come in for severe criticism by the British press. The county’s monarchy traces its roots back through 1,000 years of British and English history to William the Conqueror.

Some royal supporters view Meghan, a 39-year-old former U.S. actor, as a publicity seeker looking for a big Hollywood breakthrough.

Critics of the monarchy said the allegations made by Meghan and Harry showed how rotten the institution was.

“Now people are getting a much clearer picture of what the monarchy is really like. And it doesn’t look good,” said Graham Smith, head of Republic, an anti-monarchy campaign group.

With the queen likely to be replaced by King Charles during this decade the position of the monarchy has rarely looked weaker,” Smith said.

What Meghan’s father says

Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle, who she has not spoken to since her wedding, said on Tuesday he did not think the British royal family was racist.

“The thing about what colour will the baby be or how dark will the baby be; I’m guessing and hoping it’s just a dumb question from somebody,” Markle told ITV. “It could be somebody asked a stupid question. Rather than being a total racist.”

“This whole thing about colour and how dark the baby is bullshit,” Markle said. He thought that the comment should be investigated.

“I have great respect for the royals, and I don’t think the British royal family are racist at all. I don’t think the British are racist, I think Los Angeles is racist, California is a racist, but I don’t think the Brits are,” Markle told ITV.

Markle and his daughter have been estranged since her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. Markle, a former lighting director for U.S. TV soaps and sitcoms, pulled out of the wedding days beforehand after undergoing heart surgery.

He said his daughter had let him down while he was ill.

“I also feel that she let me down,” Markle said. “I was in a hospital bed the last time we talked and we never heard from them again – they didn’t care if I died.”