MEGHAN Markle said she contemplated suicide but could not get treatment as she was told “it would look bad”.

The Duchess of Sussex has spoken to Oprah Winfrey for a 90-minute special interview, which is currently airing in the US.

She told Oprah: “I was ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry.

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“But I knew that if I didn’t say it, then I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.

“That was a clear and real and frightening and constant thought.”

Of her thoughts of suicide, she said: "I thought it would solve everything for everyone"

Meghan went on to say that she was told by Human Resources: “There is nothing we can do to help you because you are not a paid member of the institution.

“I went to one of the most senior people to get help. I was told I couldn't because it wouldn't be good for the institution.”

The Argus: Meghan Markle has spoken to Oprah in a bombshell interviewMeghan Markle has spoken to Oprah in a bombshell interview

Earlier in the interview, which was pre-recorded in Oprah’s home, Meghan was asked: “Were you silent? Or were you silenced?”

Meghan replied: “The latter.”

Asked if she was told to say nothing, Meghan said: “Everyone in my world was given a very clear directive from the moment the world knew Harry and I were dating, to always say ‘no comment’.

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“That’s my friends, my mom and dad. And we did. I did anything they told me to do, of course I did, because it was also through the lens of ‘And we’ll protect you’.

“So even as things started to roll out in the media that I didn’t see that my friends would call me and say ‘Meg this is really bad’, because I didn’t see it I’d go ‘don’t worry I’m being protected’.

“I believed that and I think that was really hard to reconcile because it was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected, but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family.

“But they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.”