Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the side of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their TV interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Clinton said she found the interview with the multimillionaire aristocratic couple at the $14 million California mansion "heart rending" to watch — and let drop that she had met Harry's late mother Princess Diana.
She said its was "heartbreaking" that the "incredibly accomplished" former TV actress had not been "embraced" not just by the "permanent bureaucracy that surrounds the royal family, but by the media in the UK."
The former presidential candidate was eager to share in the victimhood, claiming she had also been targeted by the British press which Harry dubbed "racist" — even though it was largely supportive of her failed 2016 bid for the US presidency.
"I’ve had my time in the box with the British tabloids, as anybody who is in the public eye has had, and their cruelty in going after Meghan was just outrageous," Clinton said.
"The fact she did not get more support - that the reaction was, you know, 'let’s just paper it over and pretend it didn’t happen or it will go away, just keep your head down' — well, this young woman was not going to keep her head down," Clinton added. "You know, this is 2021 and she wanted to live her life, she wanted to be fully engaged and she had every right to hope for that."
Responding to the Duchess of Sussex's claims she suffered mental illness and suicidal thoughts during her two-year stint as a royal — and that an un-named member of the family asked about her son Archie's skin colour — Clinton said the British royal family should make more room for women.
"I just think that every institution ... has got to make more space and acceptance for young people coming up, particularly young women, who should not be forced into a mould that is no longer relevant, not only for them but for our society," Clinton said.
"It was heartbreaking to see the two of them sitting there having to describe how difficult it was to be accepted, to be integrated, not just into the royal family as they described, but more painfully into the larger society whose narrative is driven by tabloids that are living in the past," Clinton continued.
The Queen remains the ceremonial head of the British state, and the royal family frequently deputise for her on official occasions. Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall met Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel in 2019 on a state visit to the socialist West Indian nation which is still under US embargo.
