Prince Philip’s heart surgery ‘successful’
Meanwhile ... Meg h an ‘feels liberated by leaving Royal Family’
THE Duchess of Sussex has taken another swipe at the monarchy after complaining she was gagged from speaking to Oprah Winfrey before quitting royal duties.
Meghan, whose interview with the US chatshow queen will be screened tomorrow in the States, said it was “liberating” to finally be able to say yes to talking to her.
She revealed that when she first spoke to Oprah three years ago, Palace PR staff sat in on the call – and Meghan had to tell her it was not the right time to speak.
In a clip of their interview, released yesterday on America’s CBS This Morning breakfast show, the pregnant Duchess, 39, speaks of her relief that she is finally free to do what she wants. Oprah, 67, inset, was invited to her wedding to Prince Harry and was given a plum seat – but had only met Meghan once before.
The phone call happened two months before the marriage ceremony at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in May 2018.
In the trailer, Oprah says: “So, I just want to say that I called you either February or March 2018 before the wedding, asking would you please give me an interview, and you said, ‘I’m sorry it’s not the right time.’
“And, finally, we get to sit down and have this conversation.”
Meghan, with Harry by her side for part of the interview, replies: “I remember that conversation very well. I wasn’t even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right?
“There had to be people from the comms [Palace communications team] sitting there.” Oprah asks: “There were other people in the room when I was having that conversation?” Meghan replies: “Yeah, even on that call.”
It is standard practice for royal aides to sit in on media conversations, as it is for politicians in Britain and elsewhere. Oprah says: “You turned me down nicely and said perhaps there will be another time when there’s the right time. What is right about this time?” Meghan says: “Well, so many things that we’re on the other side of, a lot of...a lot of life experience that’s happened.
“And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then.That wasn’t my choice to make. So, as an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is, um, different than I think what people imagine it to be...it’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes.”
Oprah then asks: “And to say it for yourself?” to which Meghan replies: “I’m ready to talk. To say it for yourself.”
Oprah adds: “And not to have to consult with anybody at this point. Yes?” Meghan tells her: “Yeah. To be able to just make a choice on your own.And to be able to speak for yourself.” Some of the Duchess’s friends in the US media have come out to support her, including CBS News anchor Gayle King, who defended the Sussexes from the backlash over the interview clashing with Prince Philip, 99, being in hospital.
Gayle told viewers: “It should be pointed out that they did this interview two, three weeks ago before Prince Philip was in the hospital. So all of this happened before then.
“I think that’s an important point while they’re being blamed for appearing to be insensitive.”
The exact date of the interview
‘We have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t before’
has not been released. Gayle, 66, also claimed that Harry and “particularly” Meghan have been unfairly “vilified”.
Meanwhile her co-star Anthony Mason called the Royal Family “oppressive”.
As the Daily Express revealed yesterday, the Queen and other members of the family have not seen a preview of the 90-minute interview. Neither have their advisers.
One Palace source thought that even Harry and Meghan had not seen the final cut.
The Queen has urged restraint in the escalating row, carrying on her duties as usual.
She and other senior members of the family, including Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge, will be briefed on Monday morning after the interview is shown in the US at 1am British time.
The full programme will be screened in the UK at 9pm on Monday by ITV, which paid around £1million for the rights.
It beat competition from Sky, Channel 4 and others after CBS decided it offered the biggest potential audience for the show in the UK.
Gayle also questioned why Meghan was being investigated by the Palace over claims she bullied staff – which she denies – while there was no probe into Prince Andrew’s friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The anchorwoman said there were “crickets” – slang for silence in the US – “when it comes to Prince Andrew”. She went on to suggest the bullying allegations against Meghan had been raised because the Duchess had spoken to Oprah.
She said: “When they’re talking about alleged misbehaviour, mean girl behaviour from Meghan that was first raised in 2018, and there wasn’t an investigation, and now, right before the interview...”