ITV issues statement on Piers Morgan's Meghan Markle mental health comments amid "conversations" with Mind charity
The Good Morning Britain host said he "didn't believe a word" after Meghan Markle discussed struggling with her mental health during her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
ITV has issued a statement following Piers Morgan's comments on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The programme, which aired in the US on Sunday night before it was broadcast by ITV last night, saw the couple discuss what led them to take a step back from their royal duties back in January 2020.
During the interview, Meghan revealed there was a time she “didn’t want to be alive anymore.” She added: “I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. And I said that I’d never felt this way before. I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn’t, because it wouldn’t be good for the institution.”
Morgan discussed the comments on Monday's Good Morning Britain broadcast, before the interview had aired in the UK in full. "I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word [Meghan Markle] says," Morgan said. "I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report, and the fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our royal family, I think is contemptible.”
Morgan's remarks prompted mental health charity Mind, which partners with ITV on the Get Britain Talking campaign, to issue a statement on social media saying they were "in conversations" with ITV about "Piers Morgan's comments on not believing Meghan's experiences about suicidal thoughts".
RadioTimes.com reached out to ITV for comment. Their official statement read: "ITV is committed to mental health and wellbeing and working with our charity partners on Britain Get Talking, which is about encouraging people to talk about their mental health. It is very important that if anyone has suicidal thoughts that they should always speak out and be listened to."
Additionally, Morgan addressed his remarks on Tuesday's (9th March) GMB broadcast.
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“When we talked about this yesterday I said as an all encompassing thing, 'I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview', and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said," Morgan said.
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He continued: “It's not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say. My real concern was a disbelief frankly and I’m prepared to be proven wrong on this and if I'm wrong it is a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family. If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) The Royal family have serious questions that need to be answered.”
“But I would also throw into the mix, that Prince Harry himself belongs to the top of several mental health charities. It does raise the question to me – he has sought help himself, he has talked about that openly –why could he not in that eventuality have gone and got Meghan the help she needed, maybe via the charities he represents?"
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, contact Samaritans for free from any phone at any time of the day or night on 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org/.
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