Joanna Lumley has said she did not watch the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s “one-sided” TV interview because she knew the royal family would not respond to allegations they made.

The actress, 74, told Jeremy Vine on Channel 5 she felt “terribly sorry” about the situation.

Harry and Meghan made a series of bombshell claims during their interview with Oprah Winfrey about the rift between them and other members of the royal family.

Joanna Lumley Indian passport application
(Ian West/PA)

Meghan said issues with her mental health were ignored by palace officials, while she also revealed that a member of the family raised concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone might be.

Lumley said: “It did seem to me a bit one-sided, because everybody knows that the royal family can’t really answer back.

“So I was anxious not to watch it actually.

“I didn’t want to watch the programme and didn’t watch the interview programme, but you can’t avoid it because everybody’s talking about it.”

She added: “I feel terribly sorry about the whole thing.

“I’m so sorry for that family who we all love so much.”

Harry and Meghan discuss Covid-19’s impact on girls’ education
(Yui Mok/PA)

Lumley said the interview has “spread a bit of unease and unhappiness just when we should be spreading unity and positivism and lots of love”.

“First the country, now the world is on fire thinking that this racism has gone on,” she said.

“I don’t really want to talk about it because I know that so many people have got so many opinions and we are all working on half truths and ideas and feelings and I don’t think that’s really the way to have quite a serious debate about this serious subject.”

A statement from Buckingham Palace has previously said the royal family is taking the allegations of racism “very seriously” despite “some recollections” among royals varying.