The Duchess of Sussex says there were concerns about how dark her son Archie's skin would be before his birth and that such worries explained why he was not given the title of prince.
Meghan, whose mother is black and father is white, said she was naive before she married into the royal family in 2018.
When she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born", Meghan said in a two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on CBS in the United States on Sunday night.
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be "too brown" and that would be a problem, Meghan said: "If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one".
Pushed by Ms Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: "I think that would be very damaging to them."
Meghan, 39, suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected.
"They didn't want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn't going to receive security," Meghan said.
"In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of, 'You won't be given security, not gonna be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."
Asked if she was silent or had been silenced, she replied: "The latter".
Prince Harry, left, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, speak about expecting their second child during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Source: Harpo Productions
The highly-anticipated interview, which will air in Australia on Monday evening, comes amid an acrimonious row between Meghan and Harry on one side and the British monarchy on the other.
Meghan said she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self harm after asking for help but was told it would not look good.
"I just didn't want to be alive anymore.
"I said I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that I've never felt this way before and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution."
Meghan said people within the royal institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.
"It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family," she said.
Meghan Markle says the Royal Family were 'worried' about the colour of her son Archie's skin. Source: WireImage
"There's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution. Those are two separate things and it's important to be able to compartmentalise that because the Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me."
Meghan denied a newspaper story that she had made Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, cry before the wedding and said it was a turning point in her relations with the media.
"That was a turning point," Meghan said. Asked if she made Kate cry, Meghan replied: "The reverse happened."
"A few days before the wedding she (Kate) was upset about something, pertaining to yes the issue was correct about the flower girl dresses, and it made me cry. And it really hurt my feelings," she said.
Meghan told Ms Winfrey she had been naive before her wedding and did not realise what she was marrying into when she joined the British royal family.
"I will say I went into it naively, because I didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family," Meghan said.
Among the announcements made in the interview was the gender of their second child: a baby girl.
"It's a girl!" Prince Harry, 36, said when he joined his wife in the interview.
When Ms Winfrey asked about his reaction, Harry said, "Amazing. Just grateful. To have any child any one or any two would be amazing. But to have a boy and a girl, what more could you ask for?"
On 15 February, Meghan and Harry announced their family was expanding, with the little girl due in the "summertime".
Meghan also revealed that the pair wed in secret three days before the official ceremony.
"Three days before our wedding, we got married, she said, adding that they swapped vows in private before Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welsby ahead of the televised spectacle on 19 May 2018 at Britain's Windsor Castle.
"No one knows that. But we called the archbishop, and we just said. 'Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us'."
Harry and Meghan announced in January 2020 that they were stepping back from royal duties. Buckingham Palace announced earlier this month that the couple had permanently quit.
Meghan explained that she was not being paid for the interview.
With additional reporting by Caroline Riches
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