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Talking about racism and mental health after the royal interview

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke to Oprah Winfrey in a highly-anticipated interview that aired Sunday.

MINNEAPOLIS — A little more than a year since their announcement to leave the royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat with Oprah Winfrey to talk about what it was like a year ago.

Markle outlined harrowing details that did not surprise University of Minnesota professor John Watkins as to why they left.

"They're down the hierarchy," Watkins said. "Prince Harry is sixth in succession to the British throne. He will never be the King of England."

It didn't help that the British tabloids weren't kind to them at all. The presence of paparazzi is something Watkins said has gotten worse, simply because technology is getting better.

"It really is a history of increasing exposure, the remarkable paparazzi focus to an extent it was always there, but it became much, much worse with Princess Diana," he said. "It did become insufferable from her final tragedy."

One of the most heart-wrenching parts of the interview was when Meghan Markle revealed that she had suicidal thoughts, constant and strong.

"Well, I thought it was really painful to watch and listen to," therapist Linda Etim said. 

Etim said what she heard did not sound like an ideal life.

RELATED: Meghan describes anguish about hurtful discussions about son's skin color

"The conditions she described as far as how she was living, was very ripe for suicide," Etim said. "And I felt like, if they had not taken the steps to remove themselves, I think it could have turned tragic."

And the part where Markle says there were concerns and conversations about how dark her son's skin might be when he is born also came as a shock.

"I think it can have a detrimental effect on one's mental health. You're living in an environment with people that you consider family, people that you should be close to, and yet you're being shut out, at every turn – and not supported," Etim said.

Watkins said while it's impossible to know the complete in-and-outs of the discussions that took place at the palace, one thing is clear.

"If this tragedy ends up casting greater awareness on the problems of racism on both sides of the Atlantic, that is fundamentally a good thing," Watkins said. 

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