LONDON – It was a damning portrait of an institution unwilling or unable to help. There were allegations about personal and collective behavior that reflected racism, mental health and the failure to heed obvious warnings from past tragedy. 

Revelations in Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have raised alarming questions about an institution that has developed over the past 1,200 years. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex claim the British royal family fretted about the skin color of the couple's unborn child; that the stress of monarchical life contributed to Meghan contemplating suicide; and that the couple were not being protected from invasive, hate-filled British tabloid newspapers and websites in danger of causing a repeat of the history that led to the death of Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Yet if for many around the world the Sussexes' marriage was the story of a fairy tale romance that played out under the gilded roof of one of the world's most adored families, for some in Britain's Black community, the royal family has never quite lived up to the image of glamour, prestige and cozy tradition that gets projected abroad.