Lorraine Kelly invited Andrew Morton onto her ITV show this morning to discuss his new book Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters. But, when the royal biographer explained Princess Margaret had received “psychological counselling”, Lorraine pointed out that this revelation “made it difficult” for her to believe Meghan Markle’s claims that she received little help herself.
Lorraine began: “One of the very interesting things you cover in the book is that [Princess Margaret] had mental health issues and she wanted help.
“We saw that actually in The Crown so that was one of the things that The Crown got right.
“But she didn’t get any help the attitude was, and maybe still is, pull yourself together which is probably the worst thing you can say to someone who is having a tough time mentally.”
Andrew explained: “Well it’s from a generation if it’s cold put on a sweater, don’t turn up the heating, make do and mend, people didn’t talk about mental illness.
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“But saying that Princess Margaret did go for psychological counselling even the Queen herself had somebody in for ‘annus horribilis’ to help her with breathing and relaxing.
“So in a funny kind of way, the Royal Family have had a history of going for help from professional bodies for psychological issues that they’ve faced.”
“That’s extraordinary,” Lorraine replied. “I had no idea I would never have thought of the Queen doing that which makes it seem all the more crazy or all the more difficult to imagine that they wouldn’t have helped Meghan when Meghan made a cry for help.
Opening up to Oprah Winfrey, the Duchess of Sussex admitted she had been struggling with her mental health but didn’t receive the support she needed.
Describing how she felt at the time, she said: “I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere [to get help]. This was very clear and very scary.
“I was told that I couldn’t [get help], that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.
“I went to one of the most senior people to get help. And I share this because, there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help, and I know how hard it is to not just voice it but to be told no.”
Meghan revealed she went to human resources at the Palace and said: “I need help.”
“[They] said: ‘My heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee of the institution.’
“This wasn’t a choice, this was emails and begging for help saying very specifically, ‘I am concerned for my mental welfare.’”
“Nothing was ever done,” she added before referring to her and Prince Harry’s decision to step back as senior royals. “So we had to find a solution.”
Lorraine airs on weekdays on ITV at 9am.