Jamelia Says 'Almost Every Black Woman' Can Relate to Meghan Markle | This Morning

[Music] welcome right now before the break we were discussing harry and megan's highly anticipated interview with oprah which aired in the u.s last night we'll be able to watch it here in the uk tonight at 9 p.m on yeah during the interview the couple talk about the intense media scrutiny megan faced when joining the royal family which they believe was largely racially motivated they also make the allegation that prior to archie's birth an unnamed member of the royal family expressed concerns about how dark his skin might be have a look well our royal editor camilla thomanny is still with us we're joined now by singer-songwriter jamilia good morning jimmy hi thank you very much for joining us today um so you've uh you've seen that clip i don't know whether you've seen the in the entire thing but um but were you uh what were your initial thoughts about that comment within the family um i wasn't very surprised if i'm being honest you know it was it was hard to hear it was um difficult to um you know i really felt it for um for both megan and harry in that moment but i wasn't surprised by the question and by the comment and i think i think what we need to do when we hear things like this is explore what does that mean why would somebody ask that question because i think it's very easy to put this blanket um excuse or reason as oh it's racism what does racism actually mean and for me sometimes it means not knowing and not having the answers to question it also is fear it's also um it it's representative of a lot of things a vast majority of racism is rooted in in fear and not knowing and i think um i i've heard questions like that before colorism is something that is rife within um what within western society as a whole and i think um yeah it's about exploring why do people ask those questions why is that important why did somebody think that that question was even appropriate so jamilia that was within the family but harry then also goes on to discuss racial discrimination that megan experienced in the media and you've previously said that the uk media is systematically racist i mean it's it's a strong statement um well just explain what you mean by that again you know i kind of find it i find it really um tiresome to um for myself and anyone to have to continuously have this conversation and to you know it feels as if we're having to re-educate people over and over again just believe people when we say that you know what the the the racial undertones that we see that it exists that it is real and i think for me it's not about having black people come on and tell you all you know the british media is racist it's about actually exploring what are we talking about what does it mean and why do you not recognize it i'm not talking about you personally but i just mean you know as a as a as a normal member of society if you don't recognize racism why don't you and that should be something that you explore personally and i recommend that to everybody and and also there's a great deal of talk from her about um about feeling protected uh there's a there's discussion about this whether it's direct or indirect racism within the british media certainly socially online she they said to her uh make no comment and we'll protect you and she wasn't um she she said they would lie to protect other members of the of the family um and when it comes to protection that that has been a massive issue obviously with her she felt unprotected which led her to suicidal thoughts many of which were driven by this um indirect or direct racism online yeah i think i think first of all whether it's direct or indirect if indirect racism is racism direct racism is racism and it still has the same impact i think um when we're again when we're talking about what the uh you know what she's saying and what um the words that she's using and the impact and when she's talking about it we need to we need to believe what's being said what's what i find really um interesting is that right there all of those things you're saying you're talking about megan who has married a prince into the royal family but i personally as a british black woman can relate this but particularly one who has been on you know the other side of the media and i think um it's really an indicative of why this conversation needs to happen because it's not just megan it's not just you know megan who has married a prince it's also you know your working class black black woman who exists in an institution it's almost every black woman can relate to something that megan who has married into the royal family we can relate there is a recognition there and i think that's what's important and and i believe that everyone should recognize something everybody should be like you know what we you should be able to highlight or identify what she's talking about and if you can't and that's that's a real problem and it's a you know it's really it's just a real shame yeah jamilia thank you thanks for joining us it's good to get your opinion thank you you're welcome thank you during the interview uh megan speaks in detail about her mental health struggles whilst in the royal family and even says that life became unlivable let's just remind ourselves of what she said that was during her first pregnancy and to discuss this now we're joined by clinical psychologist dr anna coulton thank you very much indeed for joining us today there was one particularly powerful moment within the documentary where megan discusses having to get ready to go out to an event um at the uh the royal albert hall to be sobbing when the lights were down but to put the brave face on when the lights came up and people would be looking at her um for something like that when you hear the depth and severity of it not apparently allegedly to be offered help seems particularly cruel well everybody should be offered help for a situation like that there should you know if you are experiencing low mood depression suicidal ideation but it's it's not up to debate that you need help that's a given so not to offer it is extraordinary you know if that is what happened that's absolutely extraordinary and it's wrong and as you say it's cruel um yeah and so this is what they say in the interview was that this was the catalyst for the move ultimately it led them to la and it wasn't an overnight thing the queen wasn't broadside of this this was a decision this i mean her men struggle with her mental health started a year before they even left the monarchy so do you think ultimately they did the right thing in order to save her well your mental health is the absolute foundation of life you have to protect your mental health it's not an adjunct it's an absolute necessity you know life can't be lived work can't be done um you can't bring up your kids you can't have relationships if your mental health is collapsing nothing else functions so it's the absolute bedrock it's the foundation and it needs to be of primary importance um again for me that's a given it's kind of non-disputable yeah bearing in mind that we heard many of those stories surrounding um diana um and and the state of her mental health and whether or not you know so you would you would hope that any family any institution might perhaps learn from things that have happened to them what help should she have been offered the minute that she asked for help she should have been either referred to or given access immediately to a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist for a proper evaluation of how how much need there was did she need medication did she need therapy did she need both what did she need there shouldn't have been a delay that kind those resources are available particularly um within that institution those resources should be available immediately and that's what should have happened immediately to to deny people that is to deny them basic access to health care i guess um it's funny because we came into the store and we found out all of it in the space of two hours but ultimately the ending of the story which she describes herself at the end is kind of better greater than any fairy tale happy ending i guess it's for anybody watching that's struggling with their own mental health to know that if you get the correct care and you make those changes in your life you can get better and there is a happy ending there absolutely that's what's that's what's so upsetting about this and not just this situation but all situations that there is help available and feeling really depressed feeling suicidal does not have to be the end of the story it is possible many people come through that and go on to lead full and fulfilled lives and that is available there's absolutely no reason why you can't get through things like that with the correct help and support and that's helping support professionally but also from family and friends and a support network around you and it sounds like that's that's what's happening now is that there's a broader support network which is which is available to them thank you thank you thank you good to talk to you you

Channel: This Morning

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Length: 9min 58sec (598 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 08 2021