Daily Record

WHY GO NUCLEAR?

»»Charles and Wills saddened after they tried to heal the rift »»Monarch will not watch show but was getting early briefing BOMBSHELL TV INTERVIEW

- BY RUSSELL MYERS reporters@dailyrecor­d.co.uk SOURCE

HARRY and Meghan’s TV chat has left Charles and William shattered after they tried to heal the royal rift.

The bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in the US last night and is on ITV tonight. Meghan told the chat show queen she refuses to be “silent”.

One royal source branded the show a “sorry saga” and added: “The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge have been left immensely saddened.”

The situation was allowed to descend into a farce that led to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex choosing the “nuclear” option of telling their side of the story to the US chat show queen. There were fears in royal

There is a feeling there must have been a better way to solve the issues ROYAL SOURCE ON HOW THE ROYAL ROW BECAME A FARCE

circles the two-hour chat on the CBS network will do little to repair the damage which has been inflicted by the row with Harry and Meghan.

The Queen was said to have chosen not to watch the chat, but will have received a detailed report from aides who did.

A Palace source said: “The overriding feeling throughout this whole sorry saga is one where many people, especially the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge, have been left immensely saddened.

“There is a distinct feeling inside the camp there must have been a better way to solve the issues by coming together, rather than the nuclear decision that has resulted in everything being discussed so publicly and without reason.

“When all is said and done, no one is likely to come out of this smelling of roses.”

Another source added: “The family do feel Meghan and Harry were given a lot of support but of course questions will be raised as to what else could have been done to smooth the transition for them.

“A lot of the feeling is that Harry didn’t necessaril­y explain to her it was a marathon and not a sprint, before they both got totally carried away with thinking everyone was against them.

There will always be a willingnes­s to repair the relationsh­ips, even though they are pretty shattered, but first everyone needs to take a step back to try to understand why it came to this.”

Senior royals have called for calm after the much-anticipate­d interview which was heavily teased last week to ensure maximum impact. Oprah asked

Meghan how she felt about the Palace hearing her “speak your truth today”.

The 39-year-old former actress replied: “If that comes with risk of losing things, I mean... there is a lot that has been lost already.” She also spoke of

TIME TO TALK.. Harry and Meghan with TV’s Oprah refusing to be “silent” due to the “active role that the Firm is playing in perpetuati­ng falsehoods” about her and Harry.

And the Duchess said she felt “liberated” after leaving the Royal

Questions will be raised as to what else could have been done to smooth the transition

ADMITS THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED BETTER

Family after just 20 months. Meghan claimed she was stopped from doing an interview with Oprah before her wedding to Harry, 36, in May 2018, alleging Palace aides even listened in on a call between them.

Both allegation­s have been dismissed as “absolute nonsense” by Palace sources. Meghan’s TV chat came just days after the Palace launched an investigat­ion ordered by the Queen into claims she bullied her staff.

Harry revealed he feared “history repeating itself ” – a reference to his mother Diana’s turbulent relationsh­ip with the Royal Family.

The Duke told Oprah the process of leaving royal life has been “unbelievab­ly tough” for him and his wife. Aides had branded the TV chat a “circus” while insisting the Royal Family were much more concerned with the Duke of Edinburgh, who continues to recover from a heart procedure last week.

It is understood senior royals were dismayed at Harry and Meghan’s decision to proceed with the interview, given both of Harry’s parents had engaged in a war of words on the BBC 25 years ago with disastrous consequenc­es.

Princess Diana’s shock admission of adultery being committed by both sides, and her lifting the lid on life

within the family, was watched by more than 22million people in Britain – a record at the time. The latest interview was filmed at the California home of billionair­e Oprah’s best pal and broadcaste­r Gayle King.

CBS reportedly paid the chat show veteran’s personal production company around £7million to screen it. And it is expected to be watched by a global television audience of tens of millions of viewers as it is screened in 68 countries.

Millions of Brits will tune in to ITV at 9pm tonight, after the broadcaste­r paid a reported £1million for the secondary rights.

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 ??  ?? FAMILY Charles, Wills and Harry in 1997
STAYING FOCUSED Queen gives yesterday’s Commonweal­th address
FAMILY Charles, Wills and Harry in 1997 STAYING FOCUSED Queen gives yesterday’s Commonweal­th address
 ??  ?? ITV AT 9PM TONIGHT AND ON ITV HUB, COURTESY OF HARPO PRODUCTION­S/CBS
ITV AT 9PM TONIGHT AND ON ITV HUB, COURTESY OF HARPO PRODUCTION­S/CBS
 ??  ?? UPSET Brother William and wife Kate
UPSET Brother William and wife Kate

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