Buckingham Palace’s response to the issues raised by the Sussexes in their shocking Oprah Winfrey interview was “dignified” and “skilful”, a royal expert has said.

The palace’s brief statement on Tuesday said the Queen was “saddened” to hear the full extent of the challenges faced by Harry and Meghan in recent years.

It went on to say the issues of race raised by the couple were “concerning” and that while “recollections may vary”, they would be addressed by the family privately.

Penny Junor, an author of royal biographies, said the tone of the palace’s response appeared to be one of “sorrow”, rather than anger.

She told the PA news agency: “I think this response is dignified. It is leaving Harry and Meghan some dignity and it’s expressing that they will always be much-loved members of the family.

“It says that they are saddened to learn how challenging those years were for Meghan and Harry.

“They are saying ‘we didn’t appreciate quite how tough it was for you, you’ve raised an issue of race, which is worrying to us, and while some recollections may vary, we hear what you’re saying and will look closely and address any failings we find’.

“So they are saying we don’t buy everything you’ve accused us of.”

She added: “I think the route, as far as I was concerned, was to reply in sorrow rather than anger, which is what they’ve done.”

The monarchy was left in crisis after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex delivered their dramatic revelations on primetime television.

The couple laid bare their brief lives as working royals, alleging a member of the family – not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – made a racist comment about their son, and how the duchess had suicidal thoughts but her approaches to the monarchy for help were turned down.

Ms Junor said it was unlikely the palace would comment further publicly in the immediate future on the matter.

She said: “I think it’s a very skilful statement (from the palace).

“There’s no way that they could have countered any of the accusations that they felt were unjust because to counter one would have meant they would have had to counter all of them, and that would have become undoable.

“I think they’ve expressed this absolutely to perfection. I think less is more in this situation.”

The palace’s statement on behalf of the Queen said: “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.  While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

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

Pressure had been mounting on the Palace to respond to accusations of racism in the royal family following the explosive interview.

The statement came a day-and-a-half after the two-hour conversation was aired in the US.