Serena Williams praises “brave” Meghan Markle following Oprah interview

Serena Williams is “proud” of Meghan Markle for sharing her truth in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey. Moments after many watched the actress disclose her horrific experiences at the Buckingham Palace, the award-winning tennis player took to social media to commend her friend for speaking out about the “pain and cruelty” she endured behind the scenes.

“I am so proud of you for being so brave. I know it is never easy. You are strong — both you and [Prince] Harry. I love you. I adore you. Your friend S,” she captioned an Instagram post. The post itself was a short letter in which Williams empathized with Markle’s reality of being a minority woman.

“Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life — and leads by examples — with empathy and compassion. She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she’s experienced,” wrote the tennis player.

“I know first hand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of color to minimize us, to break us down and demonize us. We must recognize our obligation to decry malicious, unfounded gossip and tabloid journalism. The mental health consequences of systemic oppression and victimization are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal,” she continued, adding her hopes that women of the future generation will live in a “society that is driven by respect.”

Williams’ letter follows the candid conversation between Markle, her husband, Prince Harry, and Winfrey that aired Sunday night (March 7) on CBS.

The interview sees the former “Suits” star opening up about the concerns the royal family had about how dark her son Archie’s skin color would be as well as the time Kate Middleton made her cry over a flower girl dress — an incident in which the media falsely claimed she was the one who made the Duchess of Cambridge shed tears.

Check out a clip of the interview below.