Slightly more than 17 million viewers got an up-close-and-personal glimpse of backyard living — Montecito style — by tuning in to Oprah Winfrey’s two-hour deep-dish interview of ex-British royals Harry and Meghan on CBS on Sunday. Winfrey — perhaps Montecito’s most famous resident — blinked, swiveled her head, and otherwise registered shock, surprise, and incredulity as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry — Montecito’s most famous couple — disclosed how unnamed members of what they alternately referred to as “the firm” or “the enterprise” expressed concern about the possible darkness of the skin tone of the child — Archie — with whom Meghan was then pregnant. Harry and Meghan took pains to praise Queen Elizabeth but said the reaction by other members of the royal family was sufficiently frosty and double-dealing as to induce chronic thoughts of suicide. Worse yet, Meghan said, members of the “firm” would not clear her for the treatment and help she needed. Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito last summer after announcing they intended to step back as full-time representatives of the royal family.
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