Meghan Markle’s former co-star Wendell Pierce slams her and Harry for interview during pandemic

Meghan Markle‘s former Suits co-star has criticised the Sussexes for staging an interview while the world is in the ‘throes of death’.

Wendell Pierce, who worked with the Duchess for four years in his role as her character’s father, said the broadcast was ‘insignificant’ as COVID-19 death tolls continued to rise.

The 57-year-old told radio station LBC: ‘Today 3,000 people are going to die in America from COVID. A couple of hundred people are going to die, even this hour, in the UK.’

Pierce claimed the bombshell interview with Oprah evoked Shakespeare’s phrase ‘full of sound and fury signifying nothing’. 

The actor, who said he had not spoken to the Duchess since 2019, added: ‘It was quite insensitive and offensive that we are all complicit in this sort of palace… gossip in the midst of so much death. I think it is insignificant.’

Asked who he included in this criticism, he said ‘everyone’ including Oprah, US network CBS, ITV, Prince Harry and Meghan, and the Palace. 

As of Tuesday evening, more than 525,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, while 125,000 Britons have succumbed to the disease.  

Meghan Markle’s former Suits co-star criticised the Sussexes yesterday for staging an interview while the world is in the ‘throes of death’

Wendell Pierce (pictured), who worked with Meghan for four years in his role as her character’s father, said the broadcast was ‘insignificant’ as Covid death tolls continued to rise

Elsewhere during his LMB interview, Pierce stated that the monarchy should not get involved ‘in this sort of conversation’ and instead ‘focus on the throes of death that we’re in’.

The actor -who previously appeared in the Emmy-winning HBO drama The Wire – revealed he and Meghan had not talked much about race as they filmed Suits, despite the topic featuring in their roles.

He said: ‘We didn’t have long discussions about it, besides what was in the script and what was happening in our personal lives.’

Despite praising the former actress in the past, Pierce criticised Prince Harry and Meghan (pictured) for the interview, saying it evoked Shakespeare’s phrase ‘full of sound and fury signifying nothing’

Pierce’s interview came on the same day that the Queen broke her silence on the interview, saying in a statement that ‘while some recollections may vary’ the ‘whole family is saddened’ to hear of the couple’s ‘challenging few years’.

Her Majesty said an alleged racist comment made about what colour the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby Archie would be was ‘concerning’ and will be ‘addressed by the family privately’.

The monarch will reportedly speak to senior royals – including Charles, Camilla, William and Kate – behind closed doors over the couple’s allegations.

Her statement added that Harry and Meghan – using their names rather than titles – and their son ‘will always be much loved family members’. 

It is understood the Queen waited until Tuesday to comment on the devastating interview with Oprah Winfrey so Britons had the chance to watch it first – but ‘the Firm’ is not expected to make any further comments.

Her Majesty said an alleged racist comment made about what colour the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby Archie would be was ‘concerning’ and will be ‘addressed by the family privately’. The monarch will reportedly speak to senior royals – including Charles, Camilla, William and Kate – behind closed doors over the couple’s allegations

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Meghan’s estranged father Thomas  denied his daughter’s claims to Oprah that he had ‘betrayed’ her before branding his son-in-law Harry as ‘snotty’. 

Mr Markle told Good Morning Britain  that he’s apologised ‘100 times’ for doing a deal with a paparazzi photographer before the Royal Wedding in 2018 and urged the couple to see him with Archie now they only live ’70 miles away’ from his Mexico home.

He said: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’. 

And in a further attack on Harry, Mr Markle said that his daughter’s admission she was suicidal while living in the UK reflected badly on his son-on-law. 

He said: ‘It really did upset me, like I said, it would have been easy for her to reach out to me, any of the rest of her family, who she claims she doesn’t know. But the other thing is that I would think that she could turn to her husband.’ When noted she did speak to Harry, Mr Markle said Meghan’s husband Harry had ‘obviously not supported her that well’.  

Mr Markle than slammed his daughter’s decision to refuse to see or speak to him, Mr Markle said: ‘The biggest problem here is she’s pretty much ghosted all of her family’.  

The 76-year-old also denied the Royal Family – or Britain – is racist, saying if it is true an unnamed royal asked about how ‘dark’ Archie’s skin would be, it was probably just a ‘dumb question’, before calling Meghan and Harry’s claims ‘bulls**t’.

Mr Markle, who has watched the entire two-hour CBS interview, said he was ‘upset’ when he saw his youngest daughter tell Oprah that royal life was so stressful she was suicidal and ‘couldn’t be left alone’ – but then said Meghan’s husband Harry had ‘obviously not supported her that well’. 

During the interview with Oprah, Meghan said she could not fathom hurting her son Archie in the way her own father ‘betrayed’ her, admitting she ‘found it hard to reconcile’ with Thomas. She said: ‘I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child’. 

Mr Markle said that while he did let her down, she had ‘let me down too’ by cutting him off after heart surgery almost three years ago. He said: ‘The bottom line is she didn’t lose me, she made a statement saying she lost me, she didn’t lose me, I would’ve always been there for her, I’m there for her now if she wants me’.  He added: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’. 

Mr Markle was referencing Harry’s decision to wear a Nazi uniform to a party when he was 20 and seven years later in 2012 the prince was photographed wearing nothing but a necklace with a naked female playmate hiding behind him having just played a game of strip pool in his VIP Las Vegas hotel suite.