HARRY & MEGHAN
All eyes on the Oprah interview
THE Duchess of Sussex “called all the shots” when it came to managing her own media, royal sources have said, casting doubt on her claim she could not be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey three years ago.
Several royal sources told today’s Sunday Telegraph that the 39-year-old former actress “had full control” over her media interviews and had forged relationships not only with Winfrey, but with other powerful industry figures such as Edward Enninful, the editor of Vogue.
In a trailer released from the Sussexes’ interview with the US chat show host, due to be aired in the US tonight, the Duchess said it felt “liberating” to be able to speak and accused the Royal family of effectively gagging her.
“It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes, I’m ready to talk, to be able to make a choice on your own and be able to speak for yourself,” the Duchess said.
In the clip, Winfrey refers to calling the Duchess in February or March 2018 to ask for an interview before her wedding, adding: “You said I’m sorry, it’s not the right time.” The Duchess implies royal aides were listening in to the call, suggesting she could not speak freely.
Two royal sources confirmed the two women met privately at Kensington Palace shortly after their call, with no palace PR staff present.
One royal insider said:
“It was the Duchess calling all the shots throughout.
She was given advice but ultimately it was Meghan and Harry who took the decisions.”
Another said: “Requests would come in daily from all over the world. They had their pick of who to speak to and the freedom to choose. The idea they were gagged in any way just isn’t accurate.”
A third added: “This idea that media bids were somehow vetoed by the palace just isn’t true. The institution didn’t get involved when it came to Meghan’s press. No one was ever running anything by the Queen. A proposal would come in, the Duchess would decide whether she wanted to do it, and it would be set up. Diary clashes were discussed with other households but that’s it.”
Royal sources highlighted the Duchess’s collaboration ona Vogue magazine cover in September 2019 with Enninful.
As well as involving the palace PR team in the Vanity Fair cover, the Duchess consulted publicist Keleigh Thomas Morgan of LA-based PR firm Sunshine Sachs, who remained an adviser.
According to one insider, after working on the royal wedding in May 2018, the palace PR team were “sidelined” as the Duchess came to increasingly rely on her US team of advisers, including her former talent agent Nick Collins of Gersh, business manager Andrew Meyer and lawyer Rick Genow.
(© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)
‘The idea they were gagged in any way by the palace just isn’t accurate’