ITV wants to air Oprah out-takes
90mins still to show
ITV wants to show unseen footage from Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
More than 90 minutes have not been aired – but palace aides fear further damaging revelations.
It comes as courtiers try to broker peace talks between brothers Harry, 36, and William, 38, before a new statue of their mother Diana is unveiled in July.
A well-placed source told the Sunday People: “ITV bought up the original programme, which has become the best-watched show of the year so far. It has been called the interview of the century.
“Bosses know it would be a ratings winner again if they can secure the unseen footage.
“Oprah’s production company know they’re sitting on a goldmine.”
It is understood that ITV paid £1million for the rights to the original show – but sources say this only covered the footage that aired in the US.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were reportedly not paid for the interview, which was syndicated to 70 countries worldwide.
More than three hours of footage was cut down to 85 minutes for the CBS broadcast. Around 17 million Americans tuned in to watch the interview, which was viewed by more
than 12 million Brits on ITV the following day. In it, Meghan, 39, told Oprah, inset, that a member of the Royal Family had concerns about how dark son Archie’s skin might be.
She also suggested the youngster, who will be two in May, was not made a prince because of his race.
Pregnant Meghan went on to say she had suicidal thoughts and was denied help.
Courtiers fear the unseen footage may include revelations related to life inside palace walls and claims that Meghan bullied royal staff. Meghan’s pal, CBS breakfast anchor Gayle King, has also caused the palace concern by “drip-feeding” fresh nuggets. This week, she revealed Harry had finally spoken to his family but talks were “not productive”. She also suggested Meghan was disappointed that none of the royals had called her and said she had “documents to back up everything she said”.
Ms King added “No one has acknowledged, ‘Houston, we have a problem here’. That’s all they [Harry and Meghan] want. They want a conversation.”
The Duke and Duchess have a £75million deal with Netflix. It is understood to include agreements to create TV series and films.
The couple have also signed a deal with the Us-based Harry Walker Agency for speaking engagements, and could earn up to £720,000 a time.
Unseen interview footage would be a ratings
winner