LONDON: Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, said that the British royal family tried to silence her and people within the institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.

"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," Meghan said in an interview with U.S. station CBS.

"But they weren't willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband," she said.

Asked if she was not supported by the powers that be, she said:

"There's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it's important to be able to compartmentalise that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me."

(Reporting by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mike Collett-White) ((guy.faulconbridge@thomsonreuters.com; 07825218698;))