Meghan Markle 'set up for an incredible amount of abuse' with British royals: Denée Benton

Actress Denée Benton shared her thoughts on how Meghan Markle is being treated for being the first person of colour to join the British Royal Family in a recent magazine interview.

The star of HBO's "The Gilded Age" graced the cover of Tatler's September issue in which she talked about various topics, including the Duchess of Sussex. She was asked for her thoughts on how the British public and the royal family treated the former "Suits" star a week after the latter's visit to the U.K. in June.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry joined the rest of the royal family at the Platinum Jubilee Thanksgiving service on June 3. It marked their first public appearance together since Megxit in 2020 and since their Oprah interview in March 2021, in which they shared a series of serious allegations against the royals and the monarchy.

When asked, "What does Benton make of the way that the monarchy – and the British public – has reacted to Meghan Markle?" the actress replied, "It's such a layered conversation, obviously."

She explained, "Being the first and only [person of colour], you're really set up for an incredible amount of abuse – the system isn't set up to support you. And I think that [because of] the lineage of the really profoundly devastating effects of colonisation as it relates to the monarchy, you can't necessarily just pop a black person in."

Benton said "it requires a lot of reckoning" to fully accept a person of colour into a historic, tradition-based institution like the British monarchy. She claimed the person responsible for that change could become "eaten alive" by the burden.

"Unless you're ready to do that work, then the person who's put in that position ends up suffering more than the changes they are able to make," she explained adding that it is going to take "much more than one person coming in to trigger all of that change." Otherwise, that one person will just "get eaten alive or make the choice to protect themselves." In the case of Meghan Markle, Benton shared her admiration and said, "Power to you, sis!"