It has been one of the most heavily-hyped interviews of recent years – the promos in the lead-up showing a couple prepared to lay all their cards on the table.

But the final event was even more explosive than I think most of us who follow Harry and Meghan could have anticipated.

To hear Meghan say there were questions about the colour of her unborn child’s skin as she was pregnant with Archie is shocking.

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Yes, it was protocol that dictated her son would not receive the title of prince unless the Queen stepped in.

But with a little guiding from Oprah, Meghan appears to suggest she had the feeling the final decision may have been down to Archie’s mixed race heritage.

Live reaction from around the world to the Sussexes’ Oprah interview

After the younger royals have done so much in recent years to try to break down the stigma around mental health, the idea that Meghan was told by senior people that she couldn’t get help, and even human resources at the palace said they weren’t able to do anything when she was having suicidal thoughts, is staggering.

This feels like Meghan’s moment – finally liberated, as she would say, to speak her truth after allegedly being silenced by the Windsors.

But when Harry joins Meghan and Oprah he also appears unleashed, talking about how he felt trapped, too.

He was more candid than I’ve ever seen him before when talking about his family – most specifically the apparent breakdown in his relationship with Prince Charles, describing how his father stopped taking his calls around the time he wanted to talk about stepping back from royal duties.

In recent weeks, and as speculation around this interview has ratcheted up, the palace hasn’t commented.

I was told last week it would take something very extreme for it to move from that line.

But with claims at play about how issues of race were treated, and serious allegations that a suicidal member of the family was told she couldn’t get help, it feels impossible that the royals can stick to the age-old mantra of never complain, never explain.

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The couple were careful to avoid criticising the Queen, Meghan describing how Her Majesty offered to share her knee blanket with her in the back of a car, and Harry saying he’s spoken to his grandmother more in the past year or so than in previous years.

But there is no way of leaving the monarch out of this.

Others may rally round her as she digests the full extent of what the Sussexes have had to say, but as the head of the institution, it is the Queen who will ultimately authorise how they respond to these damning claims.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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