Meghan accuses the Firm of falsehoods ‘again’
The Duchess of Sussex has accused the royal family of ‘‘perpetuating falsehoods’’ about her and Harry as expectations mounted that she would use this weekend’s television interview with Oprah Winfrey to launch a strong attack on them.
Describing the royal family as ‘‘the Firm’’ – a description that could also encompass officials in the royal household – she suggested that she had little to lose by speaking out. ‘‘There is a lot that has been lost already,’’ she said.
The remarks came in a clip of Meghan speaking to Winfrey released by the US network CBS as a trailer for the interview on Sunday night, UK time, in which the couple are expected to speak candidly about their short period as working royals before they stepped down for a life in America.
In the 30-second clip released on social media Winfrey asks the duchess: ‘‘How do you feel about the Palace hearing you speak your truth today?’’
Meghan replies: ‘‘I don’t know how they could expect that, after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that the Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us. And, if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, I . . . there is a lot that has been lost already.’’
The release of the clip came as Buckingham Palace launched an investigation into claims reported in The Times that the duchess bullied former royal staff. The duchess’s lawyers have denied the allegations. A spokesman for the couple called the Times reports ‘‘a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation’’.
Her accusation about ‘‘the Firm’’ – a phrase that one former aide said they had never heard the duchess use – echoes a statement in a letter to The Times from her lawyers. They said that this newspaper was ‘‘being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative’’ before the interview was broadcast.
The claim has been strongly denied by a Buckingham Palace source, who said they were ‘‘deeply upset’’ by it.
The source said: ‘‘It is absolutely untrue that the palace has been peddling disinformation or conducting any kind of campaign ahead of the interview.
‘‘The palace has not got involved. It has clearly not been coming from us.’’