Queen to get a breakfast briefing

AIDES at Buckingham Palace will stay up through the night to watch Harry and Meghan’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Royal insiders are determined not to enter into a war of words, but will be watching the two-hour broadcast carefully for any fresh allegations levelled against them.

While the interview will not be screened in the UK until tomorrow, it is believed palace aides have secured an online feed to allow them to watch the interview live when it is broadcast by CBS. It is due to start at 5pm in Los Angeles, or 1am this side of the Atlantic. RTE2 will broadcast it tomorrow at 9.30pm.Queen Elizabeth, who is at Windsor Castle, is expected to be briefed about the contents of the interview tomorrow morning. It is likely one of her senior aides will relay Meghan and Harry’s comments after breakfast.

A report is also expected to be made to Prince Charles, who is spending lockdown with the Duchess

of Cornwall at Highgrove in Gloucestershire. Meanwhile, the palace press office will be preparing overnight for the expected barrage of questions from the global media after the interview.

Although they will be reluctant to engage in a so-called ‘running commentary’ on the interview, aides will prepare responses in case there are specific claims that have to be answered.

During recent months, the queen has been having private conversations with Harry over his decision to step down from royal duties. She is said to be ‘saddened’ at his decision to quit and has made it clear he will not keep honorary military titles or other royal patronages.

It emerged yesterday that CBS is paying up to $9m for the rights to broadcast the interview.

But despite the eye-watering outlay, the channel will make tens of millions from the programme, which will be broadcast in more than 70 countries. ITV is said to have paid £1m to screen it in the UK. CBS is also reportedly charging advertisers $324,000 for a 30second slot during the interview.