Smart move: Harry and Meghan choose friends to aid media rebrand
ALTHOUGH we have seen only one 30-second clip of the eagerly awaited sit-down that Prince Harry and wife Meghan have filmed with chat-show queen Oprah Winfrey, the accusations of hypocrisy have already started.
A royal storm has been brewing online amid claims of double-standards, for the celebrity duo claiming they want more privacy to raise their family while signing multi-million-dollar deals with Netflix and sitting down with a global star for the exclusive interview.
Their choice of Winfrey for the tell-all chat could be seen as deeply anomalous with their decision to step back from the public eye.
But it’s also a smart move, given that they’re friends with her; she attended their wedding and they can relax more, knowing they’ll be given a ‘soft’ interview, devoid of leading questions or combative responses.
It’s no secret that Prince Harry has always had a difficult relationship with the media since the sudden passing of his mother, the late Princess Diana, while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris in 1997.
However, he too chose a good friend for a revealing interview last week, namely James Corden.
The Late Late Show host also attended his 2018 wedding, and the pair appeared relaxed and in good spirits as they rode around in an opentopped bus. Prince Harry used that opportunity to state that he and his wife stepped back from the royal family last year because the British tabloids were “destroying” his mental health.
“I was like, ‘this is toxic’,” he said. “So I did what any husband and what any father would do.”
The two recent interviews are significant steps in the couple finding their ‘public voice’, unencumbered by the laborious Buckingham Palace PR machine, having had their entire relationship analysed to an uncomfortable degree since they first paired up.
Their first joint interview since moving to America after ‘Megxit’ in January 2020, the full sit-down will be broadcast in a two-hour special by CBS on Sunday.
Filmed in the sprawling back garden of a mansion in Santa Barbara, it starts in dramatic fashion with Oprah asking an upset-looking Meghan (39): “Were you silenced or were you silent?”
The presenter then adds, thrillingly: “I just want to make it clear to everybody, there is no subject that is off-limits.”
Referencing something Meghan appears to have just said about her 20 months spent as a member of the royal family, Oprah then states: “‘Almost unsurvivable’, sounds like there was a breaking point.”
To the backdrop of a dramatic overture, attention then turns to Prince Harry (36) who appears to reference his late mother Princess Diana’s troubled public life.
“I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side, because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago,” he said.
“Because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we have each other.”
Commentators have been claiming that Queen Elizabeth was reportedly ‘blindsided’ by the Sussexes’ decision to take part in this interview.
It has also been noted that its timing may seem a little callous, given that Prince Harry’s grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh (99), is in hospital battling an issue with his heart.
Much has also been made of the fact that pregnant Meghan, who is due to give birth to a sibling to Archie (21 months) in the coming months, chose a €4,000 Armani dress for the interview.
Yet one can’t help but wonder if she had chosen to wear something from the high street, that might have sparked suggestions that she’s “dressing down” now she’s Stateside and no longer an official member of ‘The Firm’.
And surely it’s hard to gauge their motivation for the surprise interview without being given more context?
But the celebrity pair certainly seem like they have a lot to get off their chest.
And without the shackles and constraints of being working members of the royal family – and with a new €11.63m base thousands of miles from Buckingham Palace – they are now at last free to set the record straight on a few issues.
Not to mention lift the lid on the inner workings of one of the most sacred British institutions. Talk about mustwatch TV. This celebrity couple clearly fled Britain for a good reason and without all the facts to hand, it’s impossible to make a balanced judgment.
‘It’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us but at least we have each other’