Palace braces for bombshells

Palace officials dismiss Sussex interview saying it will be ‘lost in the mists of time’ – and the only winner will be Oprah

PALACE aides last night brushed off the duke and duchess of Sussex’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey as a ‘sideshow’ which will barely register with the British public amid the more pressing concerns of a global pandemic and the Duke of Edinburgh’s health.

After a frenzied week dominated by bombshell claims of alleged bullying and fierce denials, royal officials signalled their determination not to be dragged into a tawdry tit-fortat battle with the couple.

While acknowledging that the two-hour interview, to be screened in the US tonight and the UK tomorrow, is likely to include further uncomfortable moments, an insider icily highlighted Britain faced more important issues.

‘On Monday most people in Britain will be thinking about schools going back, getting the vaccine and, at the palace particularly, looking forward to the duke of Edinburgh coming out of hospital. This is just a sideshow,’ they said.

The comments will be interpreted by many as a sign that ‘The Firm’ believes Harry and Meghan will in time struggle to attract the kind of attention they received in the UK before they stepped back from their royal duties a year ago.

Aides described the mood at Buckingham Palace ahead of the interview as ‘calm’, with courtiers said to be maintaining a sense of ‘this, too, will pass’.

One source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Most of what is said will be lost in the mists of time. History teaches us that only the interviewer wins from these programmes.’

Palace officials have no idea what the couple have said to Ms Winfrey, beyond the pre-released teasers.

‘We haven’t got a clue what they say in the interview,’ said the source. ‘But there is determination not to play their game. There is a very clear sense right from the top that it’s best not to react.’ They will, however, have gained a flavour of the interview from the series of clips released during a heavy promotional campaign by the US network CBS. It has reportedly paid Ms Winfrey’s production company between $7 m and $9 m for the rights to the interview.

In one clip last week, Meghan is seen sitting in the garden of a mansion in California explaining her short experience of palace life was ‘almost unsurvivable’. In another,

Harry says that it has been ‘unbelievably tough for the two of us but at least we have each other’.

He adds that he decided to emigrate to the US with Meghan because he feared ‘history repeating itself’ after the death of Diana.

Television insiders predict, however, the worst may be yet to come. One experienced US TV producer said: ‘It’s not like a movie where all the best bits are in the trailer. In programmes like this, they keep the real bombshells for the show.’

What is clear, however, is that whatever grenades may be launched, the palace does not intend to start a war. As one source put it: ‘Only one side seems to be firing.’

It is far from the first time that the palace will have dealt with an excruciating tell-all interview.

For Prince Charles, it will no doubt stir up painful memories of Diana’s Panorama revelations 25 years ago, in which she spoke of there being ‘three people in this marriage’. But aides were keen to point out there is a crucial difference. When Diana sat down with Martin Bashir, she sparked a rift between herself and the palace. This time, Harry and Meghan’s departure has already happened.

Before the fireworks from California, the British public will see other royals provide a stark alternative by focusing on efforts to combat coronavirus.

Behind the ‘keep calm and carry on’ message, however, aides say

‘There is determination not to play their game’

‘Victims of a calculated smear campaign’

there is genuine concern Harry will live to regret the Oprah interview.

‘I suspect that one day Harry will come to regret it, just as Diana did,’ writes royal biographer Penny Junor in today’s Mail on Sunday.

It was claimed last week Meghan faced a bullying complaint brought forward by one of her closest advisers during her time at Kensington Palace. A spokesman for the Sussexes appeared to blame the palace for leaking the claims, saying the couple were ‘the victims of a calculated smear campaign’.