Meghan and Harry with Oprah: CBS shows new revelations 1:47
London (CNN) -
As the world absorbs the explosive details revealed in Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, it is almost inevitable that there will be questions about the continued relevance of the British monarchy in the 21st century.
It cannot be ignored that the statements made in the interview are extremely serious.
Meghan says that in her time as a family member, she experienced suicidal thoughts and that a leading member of royalty had racist conversations about her baby's skin color.
Harry spoke of the lack of support and understanding for the toll that real life had on the couple's mental health, adding that the attacks they had suffered in the media could come from "within the institution."
The version of events exposed in the interview paints a picture of an outdated institution whose lack of flexibility left it incapable of welcoming people facing challenges that are completely normal for public figures in the 21st century.
Given claims in 2018 that the union of these two people marked a major step forward in modernizing the world's most famous family, this is a tragedy, observers say.
"Harry and Meghan were superstars who could have been a very positive thing for modernizing the family," says Kate Williams, a leading royal historian and professor of public engagement with history at the University of Reading in the UK.
"The fact that it is clear in the interview that they felt they had no choice but to leave because the family did not support them because of the racist abuse and the clear mental health concerns is very concerning."
This narrative will undoubtedly be the subject of much of the post-interview comments, and it should be a real concern for Harry's relatives in the UK.
While there is great public support for Queen Elizabeth and the monarchy she currently leads, the question of what will come after her in the modern world has yet to be examined in detail.
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"Generally speaking, support for the monarchy and support for the queen correlate," said Joe Twyman, director of public opinion consultancy Deltapoll.
However, he points out that the queen, unlike many other members of the family, is calm and rarely gives her opinion on anything.
Many conservative and traditionalist monarchists may not be so happy about Charles's ascension to the throne.
The Prince of Wales has spoken extensively in public on environmental issues and climate change, and it is not certain that supporters of his silent mother will carry over her affections.
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What could be even more concerning for the family, especially in light of this interview, is what the younger generations think of the monarchy.
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"Among younger people, support for Meghan is roughly the same as support for more traditional Kate, compared to older Britons who don't like Meghan that much," Twyman explained.
“While we don't know if this is an age or a cohort issue and these people could become more conservative as they age, it is quite possible that the generation that thinks royalty should stay rigid and not talk about issues like women's rights and mental health will disappear.
For people of a certain generation, the idea of bowing down to your grandmother every time you see her just because she's the queen seems crazy. "
That concerns were raised, the couple said, about their baby's skin color before it was born could have consequences beyond a public relations disaster for the royal family.
The British monarch is currently head of state of many Commonwealth countries, a diplomatic coup for the United Kingdom.
"We know that some members of the Commonwealth intend to remove the [British] monarch as head of state once Elizabeth is gone," Williams said.
In many Commonwealth nations, Britain's colonial past is already a hard pill to swallow.
Meghan addressed this directly in the interview and described how she thought she and Harry's baby would provide an 'added benefit' to the people of the Commonwealth.
"How inclusive is that, that you can see someone who looks like you in this family," he said.
CNN has reached out to the royal family for comment.
For others, however, the fact that Meghan's race was such a prominent issue when she joined the royal family is a sign that claims of a modernizing monarchy were wishful thinking at best.
"Personally, I think it's a good thing, as it shows that all the noise around the wedding, being a great time for the royal family to become more inclusive, was completely untrue," says Kehinde Andrews, professor of black studies at City. University in Birmingham.
“The way in which racism exists in British society and how closed the institution of the royal family is is undeniably exposed.
Silence and maintaining the image is more important than doing anything that really matters.
Meghan and Harry are trending for their interview with Oprah 0:42
If the royal family wants to get out of this, they will have to go through a period of reflection and take the claims of their relatives seriously.
If the institution wants to avoid looking irrelevant in a diverse and modern nation, then it must remember the claims made about welcoming Meghan in 2018.
“The important thing now is that they do not file away the idea of an outside part and an inside part that Harry and Meghan originally proposed.
In 2021, are we really saying that more minor royals can only be backups of William and Kate?
If the family and the courtiers can't see that a family like the Sussexes is a good thing in the public eye, then they have a big problem, ”Williams said.
From a public relations perspective, this interview is overwhelming for "The Firm," as the royal family is often called.
While we haven't heard the other side of the story, the fact that two high-profile royals were willing to go on the record that they felt so inadequately supported to the point that one of them considered committing suicide is horrifying.
Royal supporters have already dismissed the couple's remarks as a performance.
While this could go well with a very specific group of people in the country, there is no denying how damning this moment is for an institution whose future is far from secure once its current leader is no longer here.
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