The worldwide web was still burning from incendiary claims made by Meghan Markle during her interview Sunday night with Oprah Winfrey, and tennis superstar Serena Williams came to Mirkle’s side.
Not long after Mirkle claimed the royal palace was worried that her first child, Archie, would have have dark skin and that he wouldn’t have a princely title or added security, Williams acknowledged “pain and cruelty” Mirkle has reportedly experienced with the British monarchy.
Williams sent this message to social media late Sunday night:
“Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life — and leads by example — with empathy and compassion,” Williams wrote. “She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she’s experienced.”
Markle, who is married to Prince Harry, has a bi-racial background and a close relationship with her mother, who is Black. Markle told Winfrey Sunday night during a primetime special that she learned her son, Archie, would not have a prince title or the security that comes with a member of the royal family. Then, there was the color of Archie’s skin that became an issue, Markle said.
“All around this same time, 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 as how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Markle said.
Markle said it was information that not only Harry relayed to her from his family, but what she claimed to have heard from with the family itself.
“That was relayed to me from Harry from conversations that family had with him,” Markle told Winfrey. Markle said the assumption of her child, Archie, being brown was going to be a problem with the family.
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Williams, who is known as the greatest women’s tennis player of all-time, and who welcomed Markle into the Serena Williams family box at the 2019 U.S. Open, said she knows what it’s like to be a victim of both sexism and racism.
“I know first hand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of color to minimize us, to break us down and demonize us,” Williams wrote. “We must recognize our obligation to decry malicious, unfounded gossip and tabloid journalism.
“The mental health consequences of systemic oppression and victimization are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal.”
During the interview, Mirkle admitted to having suicidal tendencies, and said the royal family didn’t offer help. She said she wanted security protection for not only her son, Archie, but also for the birth of her upcoming daughter, which she revealed the gender in the interview.
Williams said she hopes her own daughter, and Mirkle’s daughter who’s due to arrive this summer, can live in a society respectful of women.
“I want Meghan’s daughter, my daughter and your daughter to live in a society that is driven by respect,” Williams stated. “Keep in your memory the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no low.”
