Two days after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, aired in the U.S., Queen Elizabeth II released a statement. 

“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” she said. “The issues, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much-loved family members.” 

People quickly latched onto one phrase from this paragraph—“some recollections may vary”—and they were right to. According to a royal insider who spoke to People, that line was an “underlying jab.” The outlet writes this comment reportedly “indicates dissent among the family at some of the claims made in the interview.” But it’s unclear what specific claims the family may be referring to. 

Shortly after Queen Elizabeth gave a statement, Prince William broke his silence. “We are very much not a racist family,” the Duke of Cambridge told a Sky News reporter on March 11, according to People.

Presumably this was in response to Markle telling Winfrey there were “concerns and conversations” from within the royal family “about how dark” Archie’s skin might be while she was pregnant with him. When Winfrey asked Markle who was having those discussions, the duchess declined to identify the person, saying, “I think that would be very damaging to them.”

Besides the queen and Prince William, no other royals have commented publicly on the Winfrey interview. But royals author Sarah Gristwood told Vanity Fair Prince Charles is in “a state of despair” over the entire thing: “Just at a time when by and large Charles had started to look like a more popular king than one would have guessed, here’s a major blow to his reputation. That his son felt let down by him. It’s hard to know if Harry is aware of the damage this has done. Did he actually intend to cast this damaging light on his father and his family? We don’t know.” 

The queen has released a statement about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s explosive Oprah Winfrey interview that aired March 7 on CBS. 

Read it in full, below: 

“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the queen said. “The issues, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much-loved family members.” 

This is the first statement anyone from the royal family has given about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s extensive interview, in which they opened up about the British monarchy, fame, tabloids, and why they chose to step back as senior royals. 

Markle’s and Prince Harry’s quotes about specific members of the family were mixed, but they made it clear how much they respect the queen. 

“She’s always been warm and inviting and really welcoming,” Markle told Winfrey. “She was one of the first people I met. There wasn’t actually a huge formality the first time I met Her Majesty the Queen. We were going to lunch at Royal Lodge, which is where some of the other members of the family lived, specifically Andrew and Fergie and Eugenie and Beatrice. Eugenie and I had known each other before I knew Harry, so that was comfortable. It turned out the queen was finishing a church service there in Windsor, and she was going to be at the house. I remember Harry and I were in the car. He [was like], ‘My grandmother’s here, so you’re going to meet her.’ [I said], ‘Oh, great. I loved my grandmother. I used to take care of her.’” 

Meanwhile, Prince Harry said, “I’ve spoken more to my grandmother in the last year than I have for many, many years.”

Queen Elizabeth II is just like us—well, at least when it comes to dealing with technology issues during virtual meetings. 

That’s right: Even queens can’t escape internet connection problems. Recently, Her Majesty held an online meeting with KPMG, a huge accounting firm in the U.K. that was celebrating its 150th anniversary. Hence a meeting with the queen. 

“The Queen heard personal stories from @KPMGUK employees based in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow. John McCalla-Leacy – KPMG’s first black Board member – spoke to The Queen about the life-changing support he received as a young man from the @PrincesTrust,” the official royal family Twitter account explained. “The Queen was interested to hear about @KPMGUK’s continued work to promote diversity and inclusion in accountancy, and congratulated the firm on its 150th milestone.”

During the meeting, Queen Elizabeth said, “Thank goodness for technology, so one can still do this.” But then, technology let her down. While McCalla-Leacy was speaking, something went wrong with the wireless. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I lost you,” he said. “I wasn’t sure, actually, if you could hear me.”

“You just disappeared, all of you,” the queen replied, but she was totally unfazed. McCall-Leacy then laughed and asked where she might’ve lost her connection. Naturally, the 94-year old didn’t miss a beat and told him it was when he was talking about the effects of the pandemic. 

You can watch the whole interaction below, starting around the 3:50 mark. 

It sure looks like all those Zoom calls with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren during the year have really paid off. To be a fly on the wall for one of those chats! Prince Louis is probably still being a little rascal and ending calls before he’s supposed to. Maybe Archie has even gotten in on the action from California, too. Regardless, we’re happy this family is staying connected.