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Britain's royal family is grappling with a crisis that has rocked the institution after the sensational television interview by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in which the couple said they encountered racist attitudes and a lack of support that drove the duchess to thoughts of suicide.

In a new clip — aired this morning by CBS in the US — Prince Harry emphasises that racism was "a large part" of the reason he and Meghan left Britain.

Oprah Winfrey has also revealed it was not the Queen or Prince Philip who raised "concerns" about how dark the Sussexes' unborn child's skin would be after the bombshell allegation was made by Meghan during the interview.

READ MORE: The biggest revelations from Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview

In the two-hour soul-baring sit-down with the former talkshow host, the couple painted a deeply unflattering picture of life inside the royal household, depicting a cold, uncaring institution that they had to flee to save their lives.

Meghan told Winfrey that at one point "I just didn't want to be alive anymore" and had uncontrollable suicidal thoughts. She said she sought help through the palace's human resources department, but was told there was nothing they could do.

Meghan, 39, said that she was naive at the start of her relationship with Harry and unprepared for the strictures of royal life.

The former television star, who identifies as biracial, described that when she was pregnant with son Archie, there were "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born".

Harry confirmed the conversation, saying: "I was a bit shocked." He said he would not reveal who made the comment, though Winfrey said he told her it was not either of his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II or her husband, Prince Philip.

READ MORE: Meghan reveals chats about 'how dark Archie's skin would be'

https://twitter.com/CBSThisMorning/status/1368904417135767558

Harry and Meghan, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced they were quitting royal duties last year, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. That split became official earlier this year, and the interview was widely seen as their first opportunity to explain their decision.

In a clip released Monday that was not broadcast the night before, Harry reiterated that racism was "a large part" of the reason the couple left Britain — and he blamed the "toxic" British tabloid press.

"The UK is not bigoted," he said. "The UK press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids."

Deman for Palace to investigate

The implications for the interview — which was broadcast Sunday night in the United States and will air in Britain on Monday night — are only beginning to be understood. Emily Nash, royal editor at Hello! Magazine, said the revelations had left her and many other viewers "shell-shocked."

"I don't see how the palace can ignore these allegations, they're incredibly serious," she said. "You have the racism allegations. Then you also have the claim that Megan was not supported, and she sought help even from the HR team within the household and was told that she couldn't seek help."

Anti-monarchy group Republic said the interview gave a clearer picture of what the royal family is like — and it's not pretty.

"Whether for the sake of Britain or for the sake of the younger royals this rotten institution needs to go,'' Graham Smith of the campaign group said. "Some people will say 'well you would say that,' but this interview has only served to highlight what a lot of people have known for years: The monarchy is rotten to the core and does not reflect British values."

Harry, born a royal prince, described how his wife's experience had helped him realise how he and he rest of the family were stuck in an oppressive institution.

"I was trapped, but I didn't know I was trapped," Harry said. "My father and my brother, they are trapped."

Meghan, he said, "saved me."

READ MORE: Former Buckingham Palace staffer reacts to racism claims

The younger royals — including Harry, Meghan, Harry's brother, Prince William, and William's wife, Catherine — have made campaigning for support and awareness around mental health one of their priorities. But Harry described a royal family completely unable to offer that support to its own members.

"For the family, they very much have this mentality of 'This is just how it is, this is how it's meant to be, you can't change it, we've all been through it,'" Harry said.

The couple had faced severe criticism in the United Kingdom during the run-up to the interview. Prince Philip, Harry's 99-year-old grandfather, is in a London hospital after recovering from a heart procedure, and critics saw the decision to go forward as being a burden on the queen — even though, CBS, rather that Harry and Meghan, dictated the timing of the broadcast.

In the United States, sympathy for the couple poured in after the interview. It will be shown later Monday in Britain, where some see Meghan and Harry as a couple who put personal happiness ahead of public duty.

READ MORE: Harry says family 'literally cut me off financially'

Tennis star Serena Williams, a friend who attended Harry and Meghan's wedding, said on Twitter that the duchess's words "illustrate the pain and cruelty she's experienced."

"The mental health consequences of systemic oppression and victimisation are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal," Williams added.

Meghan — then known as Meghan Markle, who had starred on the American TV legal drama "Suits" — married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born the following year.

Holding hands, Harry and Meghan sat opposite Winfrey while she questioned them in a lush garden setting. The couple lives in Montecito, California, where they are Winfrey's neighbours.

Harry said he had lived in fear of a repeat of the fate of his mother, Princess Diana, who was covered constantly by the press and died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.

"What I was seeing was history repeating itself, but definitely far more dangerous — because then you add race in, and you add social media in," Harry said.

Both Meghan and Harry praised the support they had received from Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's grandmother.

"The Queen has always been wonderful to me," Meghan said.

But Harry revealed he currently has a poor relationship with his brother, William, and said things got so bad with his father that at one point Prince Charles stopped taking his calls.

"There is a lot to work through there," Harry said about his relationship with his father. "I feel really let down. He's been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like. And Archie is his grandson. I will always love him, but there is a lot of hurt that has happened."

In a rare positive moment in the interview, Harry and Meghan revealed their second child, due in the Northern Hemisphere's summer, would be a girl.

If you or someone you know is in need of support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Callback Line on 1300 659 467.

Police have made an unsettling discovery after pulling over a speeding Queensland driver on a busy motorway.

A black two-seater ute was pulled over on the Ipswich Motorway near Wacol on February 28 when a highway officer clocked the driver speeding at 116km/h.

When the officer asked the woman behind the wheel to step out of the vehicle so he could inspect it, he discovered a young child crouched down behind the passenger's seat.

"Who's that behind the seat?" the officer is heard asking the woman on bodycam footage.

As she retracts the driver's seat, a seven-year-old girl emerges from behind it.

"You know she can't be in there don't you?" the officer asks the woman.

The officer told the woman she would have to arrange for another car to come and collect the girl.

"The two adults in the vehicle had seatbelts on and they elected to have the small child not wear a seatbelt," Queensland police Acting Superintendent Ray Rohweder said.

The vehicle stop came as police pleaded with drivers to slow down, after 50 Queensland road deaths so far in 2021 — 18 more than this time last year.

Road data reveals south-east Queensland's worst areas for speeding and running red lights over a 12-month period:

Broadbeach Waters, with more than 28,000 drivers pinged.

Mount Gravatt, where nearly 19,500 infringements were handed out.

Loganholme saw 16,000 issued on the Pacific Highway.

The Bruce Highway at Burpengary East had a whopping 15,161 motorists breaking the law.

Kangaroo Point's Main Street saw 15,000 pulled over despite several warning signs in the area

"When you are doing four-to-five years in jail at Wacol for killing someone, I don't know that it's that much fun," Superintendent Rohweder said.

A delicate rescue operation was launched after a shark tangled in a chain was spotted in a Gold Coast canal.

The bull shark was seen in Biggera Waters at the weekend.

Sea World staff came to its rescue, using whale-untangling tools to remove the chain from the shark's dorsal fin.

READ MORE: Mako shark killed by unlikely foe

"We did follow the shark for a fair while after we did release that chain," Sea World head vet Dr Claire Madden said.

"I can report it was only superficial wounds."

It's unknown how the shark came to be entangled in the chain.

Police are appealing to the public for help finding a missing Auckland man. Matthew Johnson was last seen leaving an address in Glenfield on Auckland’s North Shore yesterday evening. A police spokesperson said police, along with…

It has been revealed the man who murdered Linda Reed in December 1983 killed another woman two years after the Gold Coast newlywed's body was found.

A court heard chilling new details today about how Troy James O'Meara targeted 21-year-old Ms Reed during her lunch break at Pacific Fair shopping centre.

O'Meara, who was 17 at the time, threatened Ms Reed and forced her to drive to a remote location.

READ MORE: How police caught Linda Reed's killer after 35 years

He then tied her hands behind her back before sexually assaulting and drowning her.

Ms Reed's body was found three days later in bushland at Gaven, a rural area west of the Gold Coast.

It took detectives 35 years to finally track down O'Meara using DNA profiling.

"Troy James O'Meara murdered my wife, future children and my chances of being a father," Ms Reed's husband Robert said in a statement.

READ MORE: DNA used to track down Linda Reed's killer

Nine News can reveal that O'Meara is also responsible for killing 19-year-old Vanessa O'Brien two years after Ms Reed's death and in strikingly similar circumstances.

O'Meara, now 54, who is already serving a life sentence for killing Ms O'Brien, has pleaded guilty to Ms Reed's murder and a judge will make final deliberations before handing down a sentence.

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