John Oliver Predicted Royal Family Life Would Be 'Weird' For Meghan Markle Three Years Ago

Comedian John Oliver predicted that Meghan Markle might experience a turbulent time with the Royal Family three years ago.

In an interview with Stephen Colbert back in 2018, ahead of Markle's wedding to Prince Harry, the comedian warned that marrying into the family might not be plain sailing.

He said: "I would not blame her [Markle] if she pulled out of this at the last minute.

"I don't think you need to have just seen the pilot episode of The Crown to get a basic sense [that] she might be marrying into a family that could cause her some emotional complications."

He continued: "I mean, they're an emotionally stunted group of fundamentally flawed people doing a very silly pseudo job. That's what she's marrying into.

"So I hope she likes it. It's going to be weird for her."

Following Harry and Meghan's headline-grabbing interview with Oprah Winfrey, it's clear to see John's comments were remarkably prescient - although 'weird' doesn't quite do Meghan's experience justice.

In the interview, Meghan said there had been 'concerns and conversations' among the Royals about their son Archie, with an unnamed member of the family making an issue of 'how dark his skin [was] going to be'.

She also said she had experienced suicidal thoughts, but was denied support.

CBS

She said: "I just didn't see a solution.

"Look, I was really ashamed to have to say [she had experienced suicidal thoughts] at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially, but I knew that if I didn't say that, I would do it.

"I just didn't want to be alive anymore. It takes so much courage to admit you need help, to admit how dark of a place you're in."

She continued: "I went to one of the most senior people to get help. I share this because there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help, and I know personally how hard it is to not just voice it, but when you voice it... [to hear someone say] no.

Revealing she even spoke to the palace's HR team, she recalled: "I remember this conversation like it was yesterday. They said, 'My heart goes out to you because I can see how bad it is, but there's nothing we can do for you because you're not a paid member of the institution.'

"[Going to a hospital] is what I was asking to do. You can't just do that, I couldn't call an Uber to the palace, you couldn't just go. You have to understand... that was the last time I saw my passport, my driver's license, my keys. All that gets turned over."

Topics: News, Interesting, Royal Family, Meghan Markle

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey