Meghan Markle says she still calls the Queen ‘just to check in’ during Oprah interview

© Provided by The i The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were interviewed at their California home by Winfrey (Photo: PA)

The Duchess of Sussex has said she still calls the Queen “just to check in” despite her and Prince Harry’s retreat from their royal roles.

During Sunday evening’s interview with Oprah Winfrey at their California home, the royal couple made a series of allegations against the royal family.

The Duchess said she and Prince Harry decided to step back from their duties in Febuary last year because royal life had left her considering suicide.

She also claimed an unnamed royal had raised “concerns” about the skin colour of her unborn child.

Despite the couple’s decision to step down as royals, however, the Duchess said her relationship with the Queen had not been compromised.

She said she and the Duke did not have to follow royal protocols and could react to family events like anyone else.

Citing the Duke of Edinburgh’s admission to hospital as an example, she said: “I just pick up the phone and I call the Queen – just to check in.

“That’s what we do, it’s like being able to default to not having to every moment go, ‘Is that appropriate?’.”

The Duchess recalled the first time she met the Queen, describing it as “lovely and easy”.

She told Ms Winfrey that “everyone welcomed” her to the royal set-up.

The Duchess said the Queen gave her “some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace” for the pair’s first joint engagement together, and that the monarch also shared her blanket while travelling together between visits.

Elsewhere in the interview with the legendary US talk show host, Prince Harry denied he had “blindsided” the Queen with the statement about the couple stepping back as senior royals.

Prince Harry said he would never do that as he has “too much respect” for his grandmother, and suggested that the story probably could have come from “within the institution”.

Ms Winfrey asked “did you blindside the Queen?” with the announcement they were leaving the family, and the Duke replied: “No, I would never blindside my grandmother, I have too much respect for her.”

Meghan said it had been discussed with the Queen “several times” over the course of two years, adding: “But even the night before, days before… the statement coming out. I remember that conversation.”

Ms Winfrey asked how they knew the Queen was not blindsided, adding that the “way it was presented through the press is that suddenly you made this announcement, she didn’t know it was coming”.

Prince Harry said while in Canada he had “three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father, before he stopped taking my calls”.

He said the Prince of Wales asked for him to put his plan “in writing”, adding: “I put all the specifics in there, even the fact that we were planning on putting the announcement out on 7 January.”

The Duke also said Prince Charles had stopped taking his calls while he and Meghan were in Canada in the build-up to the announcement.

Asked why his father had stopped communicating with them, Prince Harry said: “Because I took matters… by that point I’d took matters into my own hands.

“It was, like, I needed to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s got to this point.

“But I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s and for Archie’s as well, because I could see where this was headed.”

Speaking about his father, Prince Harry said: “I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson.

“But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.”

Additional reporting from the Press Association