Prince Harry: 'Meghan cried and cried and cried over bullying smear campaign'

Meghan Markle "cried and cried" before the Oprah Winfrey interview aired because of a "smear campaign" against her, Prince Harry has revealed.

Harry also said his wife had a clear idea of how she would end her life when she was six months pregnant with their son Archie.

Meghan and Harry sat down with their friend Winfrey to discuss their royal exit in an explosive two hour interview which was aired in March.

But before it was shown, a report in The Times revealed Meghan had been accused of bullying when she was still a senior royal.

The newspaper reported that Jason Knauf, who had been a communications secretary for the couple and for Prince William and Kate, had written to HR to raise concerns that Meghan had been able to "bully two PAs" out of the royal household.

Meghan said the report was a smear campaign against her and denied all allegations.

Buckingham Palace set up an investigation into the claims.

Harry claimed the report was a joint effort between "the firm" and the media, and said he was woken in the night by Meghan's crying over it.

In his documentary, The Me You Can't See, Harry said: "Before the Oprah interview aired, because of their headlines and combined effort of the firm and the media to smear her I was woken up in middle of the night to her crying into her pillow because she didn’t want to wake me because I was already carrying too much.

"That’s heartbreaking."

He said: "I held her.

"We talked, she cried and she cried and she cried.

"Therapy has equipped me to be able to take on anything, that’s why I'm here now, that’s why my wife is here now.

"Without therapy and without doing the work we would not be able to withstand this.

"I've never had any anger through this, I've always has compassion."

Knauf has been working for the royal household for several years but is stepping down from his role as the chief executive of the Royal Foundation, William and Kate's charity, later this year.

Harry and Meghan's March interview with Winfrey levelled accusations of racism against the palace, as they said someone in the family had raised concerns about the colour of their future children's skin.

They also said Meghan had not received any support when she had suffered suicidal thoughts.

The interview appeared to deepen a rift between Harry and the rest of his family, with reports that no one had reached out to them within a week of it airing.

William issued a fiery denial that his family was racist when he was questioned about it in the days after it aired.

But Harry insisted the interview was done to aid reconciliation.

He said in the new documentary: "I like to think we were able to speak truth in the most compassionate way possible therefore leaving an opening for reconciliation and healing.

"The interview was about being real, being authentic and hopefully sharing an experience we know is relatable to many people in the world despite our unique privileged position."

Watch: Prince Harry Discusses Princess Diana’s Death in New Mental Health Series

Meghan, 39, only appeared briefly in one part of the five-episode series, but did not speak directly to the camera in the show.

She told Winfrey in March that she had been left feeling suicidal when she was a working royal, and six months pregnant with Archie.

Harry spoke about the day she had told him she was having those thoughts, saying he was ashamed of the way he had handled it.

He said: "The scariest thing for her was her clarity of thought, she hadn’t lost it, she wasn’t crazy, she wasn’t self-medicating, be it through pills or alcohol, she was absolutely sober, she was completely sane.

"Yet in the quiet of night, these thoughts woke her up."

He added: "The thing that stopped her from seeing it through was how unfair it would be on me.

"After everything that had happened to my mum, and to now be put in a position of losing another woman in my life, with a baby inside of her, our baby."

Meghan highlighted a photograph of them from that evening, as they had to attend a charity event at the Royal Albert Hall. Images from the evening show they were clasping each other's hands tightly, and Meghan said she had cried every time the lights went down.

Harry said he'd been ashamed adding: "We had a quick cuddle and then we had to get changed and drive to the Royal Albert Hall and step out into a wall of cameras and pretend like everything’s OK.

"There wasn’t an option to say we weren’t going to go - imagine the stories that come from that."

He said he was feeling angry at that time that they were "stuck in that situation" saying he felt like he could not go to his family.

Throughout the five part series, Harry said his family had neglected him and Meghan saying they had tried to make the senior royals role work for four years, but his wife was "struggling".

The Me You Can't See is available now on Apple TV.

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