Meghan Markle felt a shift in treatment toward her after moving across the pond to the UK.
In episode two of the highly anticipated Netflix documentary “Harry and Meghan,” Markle opened up about having to adjust to life in Prince Harry’s homeland after news of her romance with the royal came to light.
“At that time, I wasn’t thinking about how race played a part in any of this,” Markle said. “I genuinely didn’t think about it.”
“It’s very different to be a minority but not be treated as a minority right off the bat,” she continued. “I’d say now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK. But before that, most people didn’t treat me like a ‘black woman.’ So that talk didn’t happen for me.”
Markle’s mom, Doria Ragland, said she warned her daughter of what was coming if she chose to pursue her relationship with Harry.
“I said to her very clearly, I said, ‘This is about race.’ And Meg said, ‘Mommy, I don’t want to hear that.’ I said, ‘You may not want to hear it, but this is what’s coming down the pike,'” Ragland said.
Later in the episode, which was released Thursday, Harry criticized the Royal Family for suggesting that Markle’s treatment by British tabloids was a “rite of passage.”
The father-of-two recalled asking for Markle to be “protected” from offensive media headlines due to the “race element” of their relationship.
But Harry claims there was pushback from his family and questioned why the couple should receive “special treatment.”
“Some of the members of the family were like, ‘But my wife had to go through that so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?’ I said, ‘The difference here, is the race element,'” Harry said.
