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Harry and Meghan Oprah interview: royals speak out in CBS special amid palace row – live
Harry and Meghan Oprah interview live: Duchess speaks of disagreement with Kate
(32 minutes later)
Highly-anticipated prime time two-hour special with Duke and Duchess of Sussex airs as transatlantic public relations war mounts
Highly-anticipated prime time two-hour special with Duke and Duchess of Sussex airs as transatlantic public relations war mounts
Meghan says that the couple were aware at that time that this “wasn’t our day”, but that it was for everyone else.
Meghan explains that she was told that Archie wouldn’t be a prince and therefore wouldn’t be offered security.
She says she went into it “naively”. She didn’t give much thought to what it would be like to marry a prince. She didn’t fully understand what the job was. “What does it mean to be a royal? What do you do?”.
Oprah asks how that works and who told her that.
“There was no way to understand what the day to day was going to be like,” she says.
On Archie not being given the title “prince”, ITV News’ royal editor has explained on Twitter, “My understanding of them rules is this: the children and grandchildren of the Sovereign automatically get HRH (unless, like Princess Anne she asks her kids not to have them). Great-grandchildren only get them if the Queen intervenes - as she did for Charlotte and Louis.”
As an American, what you know about the royals is “what you read in fairy tales.”
Oprah: I remember sitting in the chapel... and I so recall the sense of magic, I’d never experienced anything like it. When you came down the isle it was like you were floating.”
“Were you even in your body at that time?,” Winfrey asks.
Meghan has appeared – they can’t hug because of You Know What.
Oprah comments on Meghan’s bump – and Meghan says that she will share whether the baby is a boy or girl when Harry joins later.
They clear up that Meghan is not being paid for the interview.
Oprah will also visit the couple’s home during the interview. A chicken coop features.
“Nearly two billion people around the globe watched their wedding,” Oprah begins in voice over. From the outside, it seemed like a fairy tale. They were one of the most talked about couples in the media. Then they “stunned the world” by stepping back from their royal duties.
It’s beginning.
One! minute! to go!
If anything makes you drop your Eccles cake (I’m talking good tweets): I’m on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Oprah met the couple for the first time in March 2018, when Winfrey was visiting London and was invited to Kensington Palace. Two months later, she was a guest at the Sussexes’wedding at Windsor Castle. Winfrey wrote afterwards in her magazine, O: “All mature beings recognised it as the beginning it was.”
Oprah Winfrey has played a prominent role the couple’s life in the US, initially helping them to find a temporary home.
Winfrey attended the couple’s wedding in 2018 and hung out with Meghan’s mom, according to Town & Country magazine.
Oprah has also publicly defended Meghan, telling Gayle King on CBS in 2019 that the duchess had been “portrayed unfairly” and that she felt, “if people really knew her, they would know that she is not only everything you perceive her as being–graceful and dynamic in holding that position–but that she just has a wonderful warm, giving, funny heart. I see all the crazy press around her, and I think it’s really unfair.”
Now, the Sussexes and Winfrey are neighbours in a seaside Santa Barbara county enclave, home to a slew of Hollywood heavyweights, and they even exchanged Christmas presents.
Here is everything you need to know about how we got here:
March 2019: Their own household
Buckingham Palace announced that a new household would be created for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the spring.
Reports also suggested the couple originally requested their office to be completely independent of Buckingham Palace, but this was denied.
June 2019: Split from Royal Foundation
The divergence of royal paths gathered pace amid news that the duke and duchess were to set up their own charitable foundation, splitting from the Royal Foundation and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
October, 2019: Meghan talks to ITV
Revealing that she had been warned before her marriage to Prince Harry that the British tabloids would “destroy” her life, Meghan spoke in frank terms about the pressures of her new life.
“Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she told Tom Bradby, a friend of Harry’s for 20 years, in an ITV interview when he asked about the impact on her physical and mental health.
Meghan added she had “really tried” to adopt the “British sensibility of stiff upper lip” but thought that “what that does internally is probably damaging”.
January, 2020: “We are stepping back”
Harry and Meghan announced that they planned to step back from senior roles in the royal family in an effort to become financially independent, a move which surprised the public – and also, apparently, Buckingham Palace.
… but no deal at the royal summit
Almost as if refereeing a meeting of opposing factions, a statement issued on behalf of the Queen described how there had “constructive discussions” at the summit.
But reports, and briefings, cast the outcome of the summit in a different light. The couple were said to have been informed that they would no longer be able to officially represent the Queen. The couple was told “you can’t have it both ways” and chose not to be constrained “by some sort of review process” in contracts they signed.
February 2021
After months in which the impact of Covid-19 slowed the evolution of “Brand Sussex”, tensions between the palace and the now Los Angeles-based couple emerged again at the end of a year-old review of their position.
The couple would not return as working members of the royal family, the palace said, adding that they would also be giving up their royal patronages.
Oprah Interview
Also in February, couple announced they would give their first interview since quitting their roles as senior royals – with none other than Oprah Winfrey.
Prince Harry and Meghan, who revealed on Sunday they are expecting their second child, announced their plans to step back from the royal family on 8 January last year.
Bullying allegations
On 4 March, the Palace announced that it would investigate allegations of bullying made against the duchess by former Royal staff.
The claims centred on an email sent by the couple’s former communications chief Jason Knauf in October 2018 – five months after the couple’s wedding – reportedly in an attempt to force Buckingham Palace to protect staff, the Times said.
The couple’s spokesperson said in response that Meghan was “saddened by this latest attack on her character”.
A clip from the Oprah interview released shortly afterwards (but recorded before the allegations were made) showed Meghan saying that “the Firm” (shorthand for the institution of the royal family) was “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Harry.
A new clip aired on CBS ahead of tonight’s interview (which is starting in 20 minutes’ time) in which Oprah asks why the couple’s son Archie wasn’t made a prince.
ITV News’ royal editor has explained on Twitter, “My understanding of them rules is this: the children and grandchildren of the Sovereign automatically get HRH (unless, like Princess Anne she asks her kids not to have them). Great-grandchildren only get them if the Queen intervenes - as she did for Charlotte and Louis.”
He says that when Prince Charles (Harry’s father) becomes King, Archie will be “a grandson of the Monarch - and therefore will automatically get HRH/Prince.”
He says that when Prince Charles (Harry’s father) becomes King, Archie will be “a grandson of the Monarch - and therefore will automatically get HRH/Prince.”
Meghan’s response to Oprah’s question is not included in the clip – so we’ll learn that later.
Meghan’s response to Oprah’s question is not included in the clip – so we’ll learn that later.
The interview has been billed as “intimate” and “wide ranging”. Meghan is expected to discuss her relationship with UK tabloids and the paparazzi, her treatment by the royal family – though the couple are said to have the greatest respect and love for the Queen and will not say anything to undermine that, the Guardian reported in February – and the couple’s decision to consciously uncouple from their roles as royals.
We’re back, and shown the clip of Meghan thanking a journalist for asking if she was ok.
Last week, Meghan was granted an interim £450,000 downpayment towards her £1.5m legal costs in her privacy case against the Mail on Sunday.
“Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she told Tom Bradby, a friend of Harry’s for 20 years, in an ITV interview when he asked about the impact on her physical and mental health.
The payment follows her victory last month against Associated Newspapers Ltd, publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, over extracts published from a private handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
Meghan added at the time she had “really tried” to adopt the “British sensibility of stiff upper lip” but thought that “what that does internally is probably damaging”.
You can read more about that below:
To Oprah she says that she had been asking the institution for help for quite a long time. Asking for help how, says Oprah. “They would go on the record and negate the most ridiculous story for anyone,” she says. But when it came to the Kate story, for example, they did not negate it.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Oprah’s interview with the Duchess of Sussex – and an appearance by Prince Harry at the end.
“I thought if they’re not going to kill things like that,” what were they going to do.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you context and recent commentary as the interview happens – as well as every key moment – starting in 30 minutes’ time. Ahead of the interview, we’ll be catching you up on what to expect and what has happened in recent weeks – as well as Meghan’s friendship with Oprah, what else is happening with the royal family and some jolly good posts.
She says the firm said that Archie wouldn’t receive security.
If anything makes you spit your Earl Grey (I’m talking good tweets): I’m on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
And we’re back to an ad break.
The interview is the first by the couple since since quitting their roles as senior royals.
More on everything being carefully managed:
The pair who announced in January 2020 that they would step back from senior roles in the royal family in an effort to become financially independent, and this year confirmed that they would not return as working royals.
“It’s nothing like what it looks like,” says Meghan.
Tonight’s two-hour CBS special is expected to attract more eyeballs than the Super Bowl.
She was barely allowed to leave the house, she says, because people were so worried about how things might look.
Here is the latest in the saga:
“I know you’re worried about how it looks,” she told them, “but has anyone thought about how it feels?”
On 4 March, the Palace announced that it would investigate allegations of bullying made against the duchess by former Royal staff.
Because she couldn’t have felt lonelier, she says.
The claims centred on an email sent by the couple’s former communications chief Jason Knauf in October 2018 – five months after the couple’s wedding – reportedly in an attempt to force Buckingham Palace to protect staff, the Times said.
Oprah asks whether Kate was supportive.
The couple’s spokesperson said in response that Meghan was “saddened by this latest attack on her character”.
“I think everyone welcomed me,” says Meghan.
A clip from the Oprah interview released shortly afterwards (but recorded before the allegations were made) showed Meghan saying that “the Firm” (shorthand for the institution of the royal family) was “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Harry.
Who was silencing her, Oprah asks. Was it the family or “the firm”.
Meghan begins by speaking about the Queen, who she says has always been wonderful to her. The Queen gifted her pearl earrings and made her feel welcome. They shared a blanket while seated in a carriage together.
We are likely to hear Meghan using the term, “The firm” in today’s interview. Here is a brief history of the term by my colleague Caroline Davies:
Oprah asks how Meghan was silenced.
From the moment the pair started dating, her people were told to respond to all questions with “no comment”.
“They were willing to lie to protect other members of the family but they weren’t prepared to tell the truth to protect me,” she says of “the firm”.
We’re back.
Oprah asks Meghan about having come from a very different background from the other royals.
“Thank God,” Meghan says, that she had life experience. She knew what it was to be independent. Then she was silent.
