Queen ‘blindsided’ by Oprah
Couple didn’t tell her they had agreed to talk to chat show legend – and she found out only after CBS producer accidentally tipped off ITV
PRINCE Harry did not inform Queen Elizabeth about the ‘tell-all’ interview he and Meghan are to give to Oprah Winfrey, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The monarch was ‘blindsided’ this week when it emerged that Meghan and her husband had agreed to talk to the American chat show host.
She learned of it only when US TV network CBS hurriedly issued a statement on Monday after a producer working for Ms Winfrey mistakenly alerted ITV to the project.
It is usual for members of the British royal family to run potential TV interviews past the queen.
But Harry not only kept the deal secret, sources question whether he instigated the discussions with Queen Elizabeth over the couple’s ‘divorce deal’ in order for it to be settled before the interview, which was recorded last Tuesday.
Harry and Meghan brought forward the announcement of their ‘wide-ranging interview, covering everything from stepping into life as a royal, marriage, motherhood [and] philanthropic work’ after ITV were accidentally tipped off about it.
Insiders insist the Oprah interview did not influence the decision by the monarch to strip Harry and Meghan of their royal patronages and honorary military titles. She sent a letter explaining the decision to her grandson after the Oprah interview had been announced, but had written it some days earlier.
In it, she underlined that there could be no ‘half-in, half-out’ role for Harry and Meghan, including the specific words that ‘in stepping away from the work of the royal family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’.
That sentence, which was also included in the official Buckingham Palace statement on Friday, is said to have infuriated Harry and Meghan. In their stinging reply, they insisted they would still live ‘a life of service’ away from the royal family, adding: ‘Service is universal.’
Explaining the queen’s position on what constitutes public service, an informed insider last night said: ‘People need to be able to look you in the eye and know that you are here for them, not filming a Netflix documentary. Being a royal is all about public service, not serving yourself. If public service is not
‘She has strong views on what public duty entails’
your primary purpose, and making money is, then it’s impossible to represent the queen.’
And a royal aide said: ‘When someone has dedicated their entire life to duty, as she did on her 21st birthday, she understandably has very strong views on what public duty entails.’
Now, as the royal family wait anxiously to see what Harry and Meghan tell Ms Winfrey when the programme is broadcast on March 7, it can also be revealed that:
■ A joint statement on the Megxit outcome from the couple and the queen was initially planned, but abandoned when the sides could not agree on wording:
■ Palace aides were furious at the ‘downright rude’ response to the queen from the couple which they believe made a ‘mockery of the queen’s 70 years of service’;
■ Harry is understood to have called the queen this week to ask about the health of Prince Philip.
ITV discovered that the couple were to give an interview with Ms Winfrey when a member of the chat show host’s team requested access to news presenter Tom Bradby’s 2019 interview with Meghan in which she expressed unhappiness at her treatment by the British media. When ITV approached a spokesman for Harry and Meghan for comment, the decision was made to release a statement revealing the interview.
A source said: ‘They had kept the interview totally secret. The queen was not told, palace officials were not told. It seems clear from the sequence of events that they wanted and needed to know the final outcome [of the queen’s decision] before they taped Oprah.’
The interview was reportedly filmed last Tuesday in Montecito, the wealthy enclave northwest of Los Angeles where the couple and Ms Winfrey live.
It could be the most explosive royal TV interview since Princess Diana appeared on BBC’s Panorama in 1995. There is frustration on both sides at how Friday’s announcement was handled. Behind-the-scenes discussions had taken place on a joint statement, but neither side could agree ‘a suitable version of words’. In the end, each side issued their own statement at 12 noon.
Harry loses his three military titles – captain general of the Royal Marines, honorary air commandant of RAF Honington and commodorein-chief, Royal Navy Small Ships and Diving. His patronages of the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union, plus Meghan’s of the Royal National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities have both been returned. The couple have also stepped down as president and vice-president of the queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Representatives for Harry and Meghan did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.