HARRY& MEGHAN: Uncovering the truth
6-PAGE INVESTIGATION
Their explosive claims rocked the Royal Family and reverberated across the world ... yet this dossier reveals many were contradictory or just wrong. Today the Mail appeals to Oprah and CBS to examine the facts and ask, in the name of responsible journalism: Will they now investigate the TRUE story?
FOR almost a week their voices — angry, entitled, vengeful and bitter — have echoed over the airwaves. And in their wake has come the sound and fury of recrimination.
Across the globe, the Harry and Meghan interview has divided families, communities and even nations. Its fallout has been greater than anyone could have imagined. We have been bisected by race, by gender and by age.
The viewing figures alone are staggering: a television audience of 50 million so far — a number that is still growing.
At its heart, conducting it all, was Oprah Winfrey, whose own worldwide profile comes close to rivalling, possibly even eclipsing, that of Prince Harry and his wife. A self-made billionaire, she is the most successful — and richest — media star on the planet.
Hugely respected, compassionate and possessing a credibility unmatched by any other broadcaster, she is America’s royalty.
But with that authority and that status come obligations. When the claims come as thick and fast as they did from Harry and Meghan, it is hard to keep up. But due to their gravity, every single one must be challenged.
Regrettably, that did not happen last Sunday night. Claims went untested, troubling allegations based on second-hand conversations were undisputed, and interpretations left unopposed and therefore accepted as the truth.
Gripping television it may have been, as Harry set about his family with an at times cold and ruthless detachment, but viewers were entitled to ask — and to expect — that these assertions would be questioned.
In the space of almost 90 minutes the reputations of the monarchy and of individual Royal Family members were dismantled.
YeT even the most egregious of the couple’s inflammatory remarks, such as those about racism, were allowed to escape serious scrutiny. It is hard to imagine a Dimbleby, a Paxman or a Humphrys allowing so many damaging statements to pass without drilling down to find context and perspective.
By any stretch of the imagination, the Harry and Meghan claims demanded to be properly and thoroughly investigated.
Here, the Mail lays bare the contradictions and inaccuracies at the heart of their interview, untangling fact from fiction.
And today we appeal to U.S. broadcaster CBS and Oprah Winfrey herself: based on our report, can we now look forward to a follow-up — Harry & Meghan... The Other Side Of The Story?