Queen Elizabeth said on Tuesday the British royals were saddened by the challenging experiences of her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and promised to privately address revelations about a racist remark about their son.

Meghan, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on US television on Sunday, accused Britain’s royal family of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin might be and ignoring her pleas for help while she considered suicide.

“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement issued on behalf of the queen.

“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”

Meghan and Harry’s tell-all TV interview has dragged the royals into their biggest crisis since the death of Harry’s mother Diana in 1997, when the family, led by Queen Elizabeth, was widely criticised for being too slow to respond.

A royal source said the palace considered that this was a family matter and the royals should be given the opportunity to discuss the issues raised privately as a family.

The source added that they had needed to carefully consider the response before it was issued, and that had also allowed people in the UK to watch the interview first if they wanted to.

In the two-hour show, Harry also said his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, had let him down and that he had felt trapped in his royal life.

Charles, while on a visit to a vaccine pop-up clinic at the Jesus House Church in London, was asked by a reporter what he thought of the interview. He stopped and looked up before turning and walking off without comment.

“Worst Royal Crisis in 85 Years,” read the front page of the Daily Mirror newspaper, while the Daily Mail’s cover asked “What Have They Done?”. The Sun columnist Trevor Kavanagh questioned if the interview meant the end for the royals.

“It could hardly be more damaging to the royal family, not least because there is little it can do to defend itself,” The Times said in a lead article under the title “Royal Attack”.

“The key to the monarchy’s survival over the centuries has been its ability to adapt to the needs of the times. It needs to adapt again,” The Times said.

Elizabeth, who is 94 and has been on the throne for 69 years, wanted to take some time before the palace issued a response, a royal source said.

Nearly three years since her star-studded wedding in Windsor Castle, Meghan gained sympathy in the US by casting some unidentified members of the British royal family as uncaring, mendacious or guilty of racism.

She and Harry have also had a torrid relationship with the British press, and in particular tabloids who have been critical of the couple.

For the monarchy, which traces its history through 1,000 years of British and English history to William the Conqueror, Meghan’s bombshell has been compared to the crises over the death of Diana and the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson watched the interview, his spokesman said on Tuesday, but would not be making any further comment on it. Johnson said on Monday he had the highest admiration for the queen but that he did not want to speak about the interview.