The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Oprah I - Pre-interview, Feb-March 2021


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I truly doubt that Meghan and Harry will say anything negative about the royal family. Of course, I am one of the people who doesn't think that their statement about permanently resigning from royal duties was not snarky but rather a affirmation of the importance of their charity work.

Continuing to be in the public eye does help them highlight causes they are interested in and this interview may draw attention to many worthwhile charities. However, it is a tight rope. It's easy for anyone in the course of a conversation with someone they re comfortable with to accidentally say more than they mean to. People are interested in their private lives but if they reveal too much, their complaints about lack of privacy will ring hollow. I hope they don't regret it.

Regardless, they are relatively young, healthy, wealthy, and have a beautiful family. No matter what happens, they will be okay.
 
According to Roya Nikkhah on the Sunday Times, Harry & Meghan's interview with Oprah was filmed on Tuesday, three days before the Palace announcement that the Sussexes' royal patronages and honorary military title will be redistributed. Roya Nikkhah even mentioned that this interview is very explosive like the Panorama's with Diana, which I think is an exaggeration.

Three days before the severing of ties on Friday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their move. Oprah Winfrey’s “intimate” interview with the duchess was filmed on Tuesday in the Californian enclave where Harry and Meghan are neighbours of America’s talk-show first lady, it has emerged.

The royal tell-all airs next month and is set to deliver the most explosive revelations since the Panorama confessions of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1995, including Harry and Meghan’s account of why they quit royal life and the UK.

Hide behind sofa, royals told as Harry and Meghan tell Oprah everything
Duchess given top billing by US network for TV interview to be broadcast next month
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/harry-meghan-oprah-winfrey-interview-xpq00sxhn
 
Yep, it seems the Sussex friendly media have been given a transcript or at least a taste of it. BP has been made aware as well.
I can’t read the article _ can someone give a summary of what’s behind the paywall
 
Yep, it seems the Sussex friendly media have been given a transcript or at least a taste of it. BP has been made aware as well.
I can’t read the article _ can someone give a summary of what’s behind the paywall

There's nothing much in it. Just a rehash of past interviews - Andrew with the BBC that was a disaster, Charles/Dimbleby that he regretted, Diana/Panorama that she regretted and Fergie's greatest hits.

Oprah is skilled at getting people to speak about their feeling and so she is going to get Meghan to speak to that. It is probably going to be another opportunity for the Sussexes to air their grievances. Meghan felt she lost her voice when she started dating Harry and had to delete her social media accounts and this is her getting her voice back.

Oprah tried to get an interview with Charles in 2009 ostensibly about the environment but he declined because he knew (or more likely his advisors knew) that once she got him in front of a camera she would go off script to ask him about his private life.

So just assumptions and a rehash of what has happened in the past when Royals have sat down for interview.
 
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if Meghan does go into what bothers her but I think she'll do it without denigration, defaming or targeting the British Royal Family. She has plenty of other grievances to focus on besides her husband's family. Meghan isn't new to talking to the public and knows what the goals of this interview is to be and it's not to "dish dirt". Both Harry and Meghan, IMO, find this interview to be a platform to talk about where they're going rather than where they've been. Sour grapes would not make them be seen as a force for good going into the future.

But... that's my opinion. ?
 
Well, it's risky strategy!

I assume this interview is aimed at the American audience? Because I doubt the British public will be particularly impressed, unless something completely sensational emerges that will change what seems to me to be a predominantly negative view on H&M.
And the more revealing it is, the less impressed the British public will be, I believe.

I also assume that Oprah is not going to ask too critical questions of H&M, but I'm sure she will want something that sells. And the only thing I think will genuinely sell to a predominantly American audience not to mention a global audience are insider details. I.e. H&M's version of the split from the BRF - and why.
I cannot imagine that H&M themselves and what they are going to do and their charity is interesting enough to really sell on its own. Not when competing with Corona and snow in Texas and the multitude of other issues the Americans have to concern themselves with these days.
So while being interviewed by Oprah may seem like a PR scoop on the face of it, the risk of a serious backfire is more than real!
Because this can so easily be viewed as an attack on QEII herself, who as a person is as close to being sacrosanct in wide segments of both the US and British public as possible for anyone at present.

On top of that, if Prince Phillip remains in hospital or dies, which considering his age is a genuine possibility, before or even worse after, this interview, then H&M can look for a loooong time for sympathy. Especially if it's controversial.

"Heartless H&M drove Prince Phillip to his grave!"

I hope for H&M they weighed every word during that interview on an atomic scale!
 
There's nothing much in it. Just a rehash of past interviews - Andrew with the BBC that was a disaster, Charles/Dimbleby that he regretted, Diana/Panorama that she regretted and Fergie's greatest hits.

Oprah is skilled at getting people to speak about their feeling and so she is going to get Meghan to speak to that. It is probably going to be another opportunity for the Sussexes to air their grievances. Meghan felt she lost her voice when she started dating Harry and had to delete her social media accounts and this is her getting her voice back.

Oprah tried to get an interview with Charles in 2009 ostensibly about the environment but he declined because he knew (or more likely his advisors knew) that once she got him in front of a camera she would go off script to ask him about his private life.

So just assumptions and a rehash of what has happened in the past when Royals have sat down for interview.

Very wise of HRH the Prince of Wales, and I agree 100% that is what is likely to have happened. :cool:
 
Why is Meghan getting the top billing? Harry's the prince and it's their lives in the royal family that keep them in the public eye. Is it because he's reluctant to do this interview?
 
Why is Meghan getting the top billing? Harry's the prince and it's their lives in the royal family that keep them in the public eye. Is it because he's reluctant to do this interview?

Actually, it's American etiquette from what I've found out. "NOTE: Traditionally, a woman's name preceded a man's on an envelope address, and his first and surname were not separated (Jane and John Kelly). Nowadays, the order of the names—whether his name or hers comes first—does not matter and either way is acceptable."

In the US, Harry being a "prince" does not really figure into protocol as how a married couple are addressed orally or written. Its just tradition that the woman's name goes first. Even sending thank you notes or invitations, it would be signed "Jane and John (surname optional)".
 
Meghan felt she lost her voice when she started dating Harry and had to delete her social media accounts and this is her getting her voice back.

Please, she was virtually unknown to most people before her marriage to Harry, and even after marriage, she never shut up and voiced her thoughts and opinions through Omid Scobie, so she didn't lost her voice at all.
 
Please, she was virtually unknown to most people before her marriage to Harry, and even after marriage, she never shut up and voiced her thoughts and opinions through Omid Scobie, so she didn't lost her voice at all.

It’s not my opinion. I was precising the article in the Times. That’s what the journalist said, not me.
 
I think the Palace has been given a transcript to provide a statement on what Meghan has said. That been said, it does seem that she has given specifics on why she felt stifled, why she felt racial undertones and also in general side lined.
There is also why she felt unsafe. While I do think that the majority of the anger will be vented at the personal secretaries and advisors, it ultimately falls under the whole institution and will hurt the family.
I do not expect her to say she has proof that the Windsor’s killed Diana , but I do expect her to say that she was mislead about the role she could play in the Uk and in the Commonwealth. This might have been a simple misunderstanding _ or yes the couriers later needed to clip her wings or simply the situation had changed.
However I think M who will be doing the majority of this interview, as apparently it is her story to tell and Harry will not take away her voice and opinions, are relying a little heavily on the Windsor no comment stance. Depending on what is said the private secretaries many of who have left the palace now, might strike back. Also you don’t know how much was recorded both physically , or on paper. I don’t think the Windsors want to have a mud slinging competition, but there is a note of enough is enough going around.
 
It’s not my opinion. I was precising the article in the Times. That’s what the journalist said, not me.


Well I don't know what this discussion was about but Meghan was pretty much unknown in the US until she met Harry. The handful who watched Suits knew of her but she wasn't a major character.
 
Of course they will talk about the relations with the RF, because that is what everybody wants to hear and why there is an interest. The US already has enough celebrity wanna-be philanthropists who are much more famous than H&M. It is their past that is interesting, not so much their future. Of course Archewell will be advertised as the couple's future but it can only be presented as a conclusion to what they have to say about the past.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...h-interview-loudest-way-shell-voice-back.html
 
Well, it's risky strategy!

I assume this interview is aimed at the American audience? Because I doubt the British public will be particularly impressed, unless something completely sensational emerges that will change what seems to me to be a predominantly negative view on H&M.
And the more revealing it is, the less impressed the British public will be, I believe.

I also assume that Oprah is not going to ask too critical questions of H&M, but I'm sure she will want something that sells. And the only thing I think will genuinely sell to a predominantly American audience not to mention a global audience are insider details. I.e. H&M's version of the split from the BRF - and why.
I cannot imagine that H&M themselves and what they are going to do and their charity is interesting enough to really sell on its own. Not when competing with Corona and snow in Texas and the multitude of other issues the Americans have to concern themselves with these days.
So while being interviewed by Oprah may seem like a PR scoop on the face of it, the risk of a serious backfire is more than real!
Because this can so easily be viewed as an attack on QEII herself, who as a person is as close to being sacrosanct in wide segments of both the US and British public as possible for anyone at present.

On top of that, if Prince Phillip remains in hospital or dies, which considering his age is a genuine possibility, before or even worse after, this interview, then H&M can look for a loooong time for sympathy. Especially if it's controversial.

"Heartless H&M drove Prince Phillip to his grave!"

I hope for H&M they weighed every word during that interview on an atomic scale!

I think you are right in saying that the interview with Oprah will be mainly targeting audience in the US rather than the UK. One of the reason is that judging by this YouGov poll that I have posted earlier (post #93), the British public appear to be upset that Harry & Meghan is appearing on a talk-show and revealing details about the Royal Family. Of course, there are also people who do not care or indifferent to the Sussexes.

A YouGov poll was conducted with 4334 British adults (Age 18+), where they were asked Do you think it is appropriate or inappropriate for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Harry and Meghan) to give a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey, including about their experiences with the Royal Family?
It is appropriate- 29%
It is inappropriate- 46%
Don't know- 25%​
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2021/02/16/645ef/1

(...)

Like previous royal polls, it's the older age groups (50-65 & 65+), Conservative voter and Leavers who are pulling the "It is inappropriate" response up. Again, these people are more likely to be pro-royal family monarchists. Unlike some royal polls, this survey is under the Politics heading rather than Entertainment.

This poll does somehow reinforce that if Harry & Meghan do mention about the royal family in the Oprah's interview (chances/probability are unknown), it would probably not go down well with the British public.

I don't blame The Royal Family and courtiers/advisors/staff of being angry or upset if Meghan does blame them for being unsupportive in the Oprah interview (similar to how Meghan mentioned in a court case that she felt "unprotected by the royal family as an institution"). With the recent tumultuous events happening in the royal family for the past two months, it could be the last straw.

Speaking of The Times, Morten Morland (political cartoonist) did a carton on 20th February, which has The Queen on the telephone saying "Royalty wasn't enough" and "They wanted royalities", whilst holding a framed picture of Harry & Meghan. The word "royalties" here refers to the royalty payments.

Morten Morland Times cartoon: February 20 2021
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morten-morland-times-cartoon-february-20-2021-hqm2vgktv

P.S. I have edited my quoted post to shorten it.
 
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Reading through all thing with the discussion if either Harry or Meghan would actually sit there during the interview and air complaints against Harry's family or the family business, I just keep asking myself what good would it ever accomplish other than feeding and keeping focus on the things that Meghan has actually sued the press about. The stories and the twisting of words she makes will be a free for all press holiday with bright visions of green dollars in their head. Would she or Harry even begin to think that the press stories afterwards would reflect positively on them? Or would they realize by now that it's the press that is actually the problem and strive to *not* give them fodder for the fires they like to burn?

These are just thoughts going through my head at this time. Actually, no matter what she *does* say or Harry says, the press is going to be all over it regardless if it's an innocuous interview where they actually don't say much of anything regarding their private lives and thoughts and focus on Archewell and their philanthropic work going into the future. I just can't get the feeling that this interview, in any way, shape or form, is just going to "set the record straight" without backlash from quite a few angles. She can control what she says but she cannot control how the press interprets her words. Same with Harry. They're between a rock and hard place. They need to promote Archewell yet they need to avoid the interpretations made by yellow journalism. Something tells me that they cannot do one without the other.
 
Times claiming it was filmed Tuesday. The Sun (who snapped pics of Oprah boarding a private plane) claim it was filmed Wednesday and Thursday. Clearly no one is 100% sure, but it’s obvious it has been filmed.

As echoed here, I don’t think the Sussexes will reveal anything that hasn’t already been said in the very many UK publications. She might tell her opinion but nothing striking against the royal family.

And quite honestly— if no one said or did anything to Meghan, then there is really nothing to be nervous about.
 
I do not expect her to say she has proof that the Windsor’s killed Diana , but I do expect her to say that she was mislead about the role she could play in the Uk and in the Commonwealth.


Misled by whom? By her husband ? Or by her own American misconceptions about the Royal Family? I doubt any of the courtiers or any senior member of the RF such as the Prince of Wales or the Queen would ever misinform her on the role she was expected to play in the UK or the Commonwealth.


So I don't think it is a question of being misled or deceived, but rather Meghan's own frustration with the role she was given compared to what she imagined she would or should have. Again, if anybody is to be blamed for that misunderstanding, I would point fingers at Harry who didn't explain the role and the constraints of the job clearly to his future wife. Surprisingly, maybe Harry himself didn't understand his role either, judging from his seemingly negative reaction to William's higher profile in the Firm.
 
Sometimes in the first stages of love you can be blinded about the implications your choice makes. Such as "As we love each other it will be easy to solve any problems"
 
Misled by whom? By her husband ? Or by her own American misconceptions about the Royal Family? I doubt any of the courtiers or any senior member of the RF such as the Prince of Wales or the Queen would ever misinform her on the role she was expected to play in the UK or the Commonwealth.


So I don't think it is a question of being misled or deceived, but rather Meghan's own frustration with the role she was given compared to what she imagined she would or should have. Again, if anybody is to be blamed for that misunderstanding, I would point fingers at Harry who didn't explain the role and the constraints of the job clearly to his future wife. Surprisingly, maybe Harry himself didn't understand his role either, judging from his seemingly negative reaction to William's higher profile in the Firm.
I think she may well feel or claim to feel that she was misled.. that it wasn't explained ot her properly, that she didn't know about the tabloids and the RF in general and that after the first flush of enthusiasm, she was being told "oh no you can't do this or that" and it got to her...
 
I think she may well feel or claim to feel that she was misled.. that it wasn't explained ot her properly, that she didn't know about the tabloids and the RF in general and that after the first flush of enthusiasm, she was being told "oh no you can't do this or that" and it got to her...


But, again, prior to her getting married, it fell primarily on Harry to explain all that to Meghan, and he did a lousy job apparently.

After she formally joined the Firm, I am pretty sure her role and what she could or could not do were explained very clearly to her. The courtiers are pros after all.

In fact, from the courtiers' point of view, I wouldn't be surprised if they expressed frustration with those deception claims (if Meghan says that to Oprah) as many of them are alleged to have said that Meghan was actually given more support and coaching than some of her predecessors who joined the Family and still she keeps whining about it.
 
I suspect, if she sincerely believes this.. then, she DID get instruction but kept on thinking that she could still do as she wanted in due course.. that she might have to wait a bit but she would be able to make political comments, make money on the side, drop in and out of royal life, etc.. and when she began to see that no she really couldn't, she wanted a formal recognition that she was getting out...
I wont say what I suspect was the real truth because its been discussed before....
 
I have the feeling, she thought she and Harry would be as grand in housing an money and everything else as William & Cathrine - and she didn't wanna see that their role are diffrent - and in the english systhem they are treated very diffrently by default.


As she seems to have an inflated(californian) sense of herself it could only go downhill...


She also has a tradition of cutting off those whom she not perceves as to be 100% on her side ... she has no qualms throwing the Firm and the Queen under the bus.


She is IMHO intellectual.y and personality wise the leading part in the relationship - Harry seems to me a 'trooper' and not the leader type - so he will go where she leads.
 
According to Roya Nikkhah on the Sunday Times, Harry & Meghan's interview with Oprah was filmed on Tuesday, three days before the Palace announcement that the Sussexes' royal patronages and honorary military title will be redistributed. Roya Nikkhah even mentioned that this interview is very explosive like the Panorama's with Diana, which I think is an exaggeration.



Hide behind sofa, royals told as Harry and Meghan tell Oprah everything
Duchess given top billing by US network for TV interview to be broadcast next month
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/harry-meghan-oprah-winfrey-interview-xpq00sxhn

I’m sick to my stomach. Airing of grievances is bad enough, but it sounds like Meghan wants revenge for some of the basic rules she was asked to abide by. She shouldn’t have married Harry if she not only couldn’t deal with them, but was also going to be so bitterly resentful.


Here are some excerpts from the Times article. According to the Times also, William is angry at H and M’s response to the recent BP statement about them not returning to working life. I’ll post excerpts here if anyone wants, but suffice to say that he won’t be happy with this interview...I don’t think anyone will. I feel so sorry for Charles and HM.

Oh and as to audience ? I’m sure it will do well because it’s Oprah, but like I said earlier, the vast majority of Americans don’t care about the Royals. I don’t think any of us wants to hear about how terrible their life is as we deal with the pandemic and many other crises while they live in their multi-million dollar hideaway.

From the Times:

In this transatlantic war of words, they will attempt to have the final say with Winfrey, 67. “Time to hide behind the sofa at the palace,” said a royal source. “Oprah is skilled at getting people to talk about their feelings and bound to take them down a path they’ll almost certainly regret. There will be an element of reliving Megxit and airing their grievances. No one benefits from that, but Oprah will get it out of them whether they like it or not.”
...
A person who knows the couple said: “When they first started dating Meghan felt she had lost her voice. She had had a platform as a moderately successful actress, and when she was told to stop using her social media and be careful what she said, I could tell that loss of voice and independence pained her.
...
Having an institutional voice within the royal family wasn’t enough. This interview will be the loudest way she’ll get her voice back.”

Winfrey’s careful three-year courtship has finally paid off. As she prepared to film the interview last week, the CBS news presenter Gayle King — a friend of Winfrey and the Sussexes who was a guest at Meghan’s 2019 New York baby shower — said: “Nothing is off-limits, she can ask anything she wants.” Brace yourselves.
 
Maybe it's just as well Meghan and Harry are doing this interview and getting it over with.
I expect there will be a big audience for it- and then, it'll be over.

No one will be interested in a rehash of the same old grievances. So interest will wane, and that will be that- they'll be irrelevant.
 
Maybe it's just as well Meghan and Harry are doing this interview and getting it over with.
I expect there will be a big audience for it- and then, it'll be over.

No one will be interested in a rehash of the same old grievances. So interest will wane, and that will be that- they'll be irrelevant.

There can’t be any “getting it over with” ..depending on what they say.

This is from the article I mentioned before...Most of the article isn’t about William’s anger, actually...I’m posting these bits because it’s interviews like this one that make it impossible to separate the personal from the “business”.

“There is a genuine desire for things to get back to normal and for it to be about family, rather than the fractured element around the work and business relationship.”

A source close to the Sussexes said: “Both sides see that there’s a difference between the personal relationship they have in the family and the professional relationship in terms of the family business.”
 
There can’t be any “getting it over with” ..depending on what they say.

This is from the article I mentioned before...Most of the article isn’t about William’s anger, actually...I’m posting these bits because it’s interviews like this one that make it impossible to separate the personal from the “business”.

I think she may well feel or claim to feel that she was misled.. that it wasn't explained ot her properly, that she didn't know about the tabloids and the RF in general and that after the first flush of enthusiasm, she was being told "oh no you can't do this or that" and it got to her...

Maybe that is what William had been trying to tell Harry, possibly in a clumsy fashion.
 
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