Prince Harry has apparently spoken to his father and brother for the first time since his and Meghan Markle’s emotional TV tell-all with Oprah Winfrey aired last week.

But the talks with Prince Charles and Prince William were “unproductive”, according to their friend, TV host Gayle King.

“Harry has talked to his brother and he has talked to his father, too. The word I was given was, those conversations were not productive. But they are glad they at least started a conversation,” King told CBS’s This Morning on Tuesday (US time).

King said she had called the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after last week’s Winfrey interview. She said the former royals were upset that Buckingham Palace was saying it wanted to work out issues privately, yet “false stories” were still being leaked against Meghan.

“No one in the royal family has talked to Meghan yet or at this particular time,” King said.

Among Harry and Meghan’s most sensational claims in last week’s Winfrey interview were allegations of racism against the British royals. Meghan reported that one unnamed family member was concerned about how dark her then-unborn son Archie’s skin would be.

“I think it’s frustrating for them to see that it’s a racial conversation about the royal family when all they wanted all along was for the royals to intervene and tell the press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant,” King said.

“Until you can acknowledge that, I think it’s going to be hard to move forward. But they both want to move forward with this. They want healing in this family. At the end of the day, it’s Harry’s family.”

King’s comments came as Harry’s grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, left hospital after a month-long stay. The 99-year-old duke was thought to be returning to Windsor Castle to reunite with the Queen.

Prince Philip left hospital in a chauffeur-driven car.

During last week’s two-hour TV special, Meghan also claimed she had been denied mental health support as she struggled with suicidal thoughts and self-harm during her pregnancy.

Later, Prince Harry revealed fractures in his relationship with his father and brother.

Buckingham Palace released a statement in the Queen’s name two days after the show aired, saying “the whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan”.

“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,” it said.

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

The statement also noted that “some recollections may vary”.

Also this week, the palace said it had hired an external law firm to investigate claims that Meghan bullied royal staff.

The palace initially said it would investigate after a British media report cited unnamed royal aides as saying a complaint had been made against Meghan in 2018.

“Our commitment to look into the circumstances around allegations from former staff of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is being taken forward but we will not be providing a public commentary on it,” a palace spokesman said on Monday.

Elsewhere, there was support for Meghan from another quarter, with former US first lady Michelle Obama describing the race revelations as “heartbreaking”.

“I feel like that was heartbreaking to hear, that she felt like she was in her own family – her own family thought differently of her,” Ms Obama told NBC News.

“As I said before, race isn’t a new construct in this world for people of colour, and so it wasn’t a complete surprise to hear her feelings and to have them articulated,” she said.

“I think the thing that I hope for, and the thing I think about, is that this, first and foremost, is a family. I pray for forgiveness and healing for them so that they can use this as a teachable moment for us all.”

Prince William has denied that Britain’s royals are racist, in the family’s only other public comments so far on the claims.

-with AAP