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

[Hallo girl]

What do you mean ?

To take his time, be sure, which , and this part is my opinion it would have given Meghan time to really understand the family/ firm.

 

[TLLK]

To take his time, be sure, which , and this part is my opinion it would have given Meghan time to really understand the family/ firm.

I believe that you might be on to something Hallo girl. I wonder if William and possibly Catherine, Charles, Camilla etc..had gleaned from conversations with Meghan, that her impressions of royal life were very different from the reality. And she didn't truly understand the parameters and the constraints that came with marrying into the BRF. Therefore that sparked William's words of advice to Harry.

 

[Alison H]

This is still quite a new situation. Neither Prince Philip (initially) nor the Earl of Snowdon were expected to become full time working royals on marriage. In the generation before them, an earl's daughter like the Queen Mother would have expected to spend her life doing charity work etc regardless of whom she'd married, and was already familiar with royal circles anyway. Diana, Sarah and Sophie were the first ones who really had big changes to make. Neither Diana nor Sarah were actually doing that much before marriage, and they were part of royal circles to some extent anyway. Sophie, marrying the third son, wasn't in the limelight in the same way, and both she and Kate were with their future husbands for years before they got married. It's no wonder that things were difficult for Meghan - but hitting out in books, and in TV interviews if that's what's going to happen, isn't going to help. It's just going to create more bad feeling.

 

[Muhler]

Not having a voice?

Well, she sure had the platform! And over time she would directly and indirectly have had a voice, albeit within certain limits. Just like others who have married into royal families and slowly been able to really voice themselves about topics that is dear to them.
No royals are free to talk about everything and certainly not newcomers.

If Meghan is going to - pardon me - moan about not being allowed that, this interview is doomed to crash big time. On that topic alone.
I could perhaps understand her point of view if she had toiled tirelessly within the BRF for fifteen years and was still only allowed to kiss babies and speak up about flower arrangements. Then you could present an argument that it might be a frustrating waste of her talents.
But she was still a learner when H&M decided to quit the BRF.

This Oprah interview is like watching someone put on a blindfold, determined to dance through a minefield! Any reasonably competent PR advisors would rather shoot themselves then recommending this interview.
Remember the terms: Nothing is off limit.

So why on earth are they doing it?!?

Two things springs to my mind:
A) They have to.
Due to Corona and other issues in the news they are rapidly becoming irrelevant. Corona has prevented them from appearing here, there and everywhere. They have so much become yesterdays news.
The only skills, the only talents they have, are themselves, their history and Harry's status.
They are amateurs in professional fundraising and in setting up large scale charities - presenting is not the same as organizing. They don't have an organization behind them. None of them AFAIK have any education in law, economy or organization to speak of.
There are no one to protect them from the sharks out there.

As for the Netflex deal. That's a mirage. How many are interested in following two de facto ex-royals running around, trying to be altruistic? Not least considering the reality TV competition out there. There are people who would happily participate in Russian roulette on a weekly basis! And H&M should somehow be more interesting and fascinating than that? - Keep dreaming.
The same thing with book deals and appearances in various talk-shows.
At best they will become talk-show hosts themselves...

B) The second thing that springs to my mind is unfortunately more ominous:
They both have an overinflated view of themselves. A delusional view actually.
And this cannot be because Harry has fallen under the spell of a manipulative Meghan. - He may have met his match in Meghan, she may not exactly have helped, but it cannot only be Meghan's fault.
I used to like Harry. I do however increasingly believe that I read him wrong.
Meghan may have an inflated view of herself, but it's IMO no less than the inflated view Harry has of himself.
I suspect that Harry believe that he could do the job just as well as his brother, if not better, and that he should be treated accordingly. That is given a similar status and a similar influence and a corresponding voice so to speak as William.
I think we have all, without exception, met that type of person.
But that's now how it works in a strict hierarchical structure as a royal family. And realizing that he will never be "equal to the caliph" Harry IMO reacted with frustration and perhaps even jealousy.
Whether Megan was the trigger that brought these latent frustrations out in the open and/or whether she helped confirming his view of his "destiny" is open to debate.
- It really is frustrating looking at yourself in the mirror seeing how brilliant you and your ideas are, that other people don't see it. ?
After all, when you are brilliant, setbacks simply cannot be your fault. They have to be caused by someone else. That someone else could very well be William, so Harry vents his frustration, his disappointment, his jealousy towards William. His brother who "betrayed" him. His brother who prevents him from shine.

There is IMO no other way that I can think of right now of explaining Harry's downright irrational behavior. Because he is an adult man who knows the workings of the system intimately from within.

At best this interview is going to be embarrassing. But I don't believe so.
Oprah is too professional to let this opportunity fizzle out into 90 minutes of boring talk about visions and dreams of a better world and Harry changing nappies.
No, we are gonna see Harry come marching into the studio with Archie on his arm with violins going at full throttle and we are going to hear some juicy details about H&M's split from the BRF.
After what does she owe them?
AFAIK she was not a personal friend of neither Meghan nor Harry, nor has she seemingly visited them on a regular basis. She merely got an invite to their wedding.
Will she have any qualms about helping them to self-destruct if that's what they really want to? There are after all plenty of other hosts out there.

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

No doubt about it.

They want to win over Americans. Most Americans don't give a damn about the Royal Family, but many did love Princess Diana and many of us do love William/Harry. The Sussex's biggest fans seem to be women who love that a bi-racial (Black) woman married into the Royal family.

 

[QueenMathilde]

They want to win over Americans. Most Americans don't give a damn about the Royal Family, but many did love Princess Diana and many of us do love William/Harry. The Sussex's biggest fans seem to be women who love that a bi-racial (Black) woman married into the Royal family.

I don't get that at all. Princess Angela of Lichtenstein has been around longer. Why not admire her?

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

I don't get that at all. Princess Angela of Lichtenstein has been around longer. Why not admire her?

The Lichtenstein family is too quiet. The British Royal family is the most popular in America, most American's can't name another Queen or King from another country, and many thought Meghan was the first black Princess/Duchess.

Also Princess Angela

 

[Sandy345]

I don't think Harry had any negative reaction to William's higher profile. For one thing it will be years yet before Harry is King and Harry always knew that Wiliam would be the one to be King. I think Harry accepted this long ago. I think though there are some frustrations of "spares". Princess Margaret complained she was not given a better education as she grew up and so forth. With the Oprah interview, I don't think it will be a Dimbleby/Bashir sort of interview. I hope they talk about their charities. I would like to see them talk about their causes. Harry needs to speak up for veterans for instance and continue to be an advocate for them.

 

[sophie25]

I actually think that H WANTS to hurt the royals. I believe he is furious with how he perceives the way the Queen/Philip treated his Mum; furious with his Dad for breaking Diana's heart with Camilla and furious that he feels Meghan was not supported by them either. I don't think for one second he will hold back with Oprah, he simply dosn't care what the BRF think anymore (including his brother) and the way he answered the Queen back in his leaving statement proves it.

 

[Somebody]

At best this interview is going to be embarrassing. But I don't believe so.
Oprah is too professional to let this opportunity fizzle out into 90 minutes of boring talk about visions and dreams of a better world and Harry changing nappies.
No, we are gonna see Harry come marching into the studio with Archie on his arm with violins going at full throttle and we are going to hear some juicy details about H&M's split from the BRF.
After what does she owe them?
AFAIK she was not a personal friend of neither Meghan nor Harry, nor has she seemingly visited them on a regular basis. She merely got an invite to their wedding.
Will she have any qualms about helping them to self-destruct if that's what they really want to? There are after all plenty of other hosts out there.

Her not only being present but seated with the most important guests (i.e., in the choir, Meghan's colleagues of many years didn't even get that honor) could only be explained by her fame not by their relationship to her; so, it seems both parties are happy to exploit the 'connection' (relationship would be too big of a word) that was established because Meghan started dating Harry.

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

I always felt Harry was never furious but I believe Meghan has stoked something, it could be the death of his mother and he may believe the Royals killed his mother. Harry was the OG bad boy of his family because he was born second and could have more fun. He didn't seem to harbor any resentment towards his family until Meghan.

I think something snapped in him when William questioned his relationship with Meghan, then Kate not wanting to be as close to Meghan as Meghan wanted and then the press going after Meghan while his family did nothing. He sees them as betraying his wife and son.

 

[sophie25]

Her not only being present but seated with the most important guests (i.e., in the choir, Meghan's colleagues of many years didn't even get that honor) could only be explained by her fame not by their relationship to her; so, it seems both parties are happy to exploit the 'connection' (relationship would be too big of a word) that was established because Meghan started dating Harry.

Her presence was very fake I thought as was the presence of a lot of other celebs. I read that Harry really wanted to attend Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding because he and William had been close to her and her brother growing up yet LG, among others in the family, was not invited to H's wedding while people like Oprah were. I definitely saw Meghan's hand in that and I also believe she never intended to stay in the UK after the wedding. I think the UK press played straight into her hands with criticising her a lot as it gave her the perfect excuse to go.

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

Why would he not invite his cousins to his wedding? That makes no sense, that is where Meghan upsets me but you invite people like Clooney, Amal and Oprah that she had never met or only met once or twice. She wanted the title, the marriage to a prince and the fame but what she didn't want is to stand behind Kate for the next 60 plus years. She saw that this was an institution of rules.

The Queen may have been better off letting it becomes Edward/Wallis 2.0 and deny the marriage. She never intended to stay and she used the press criticism to leave.

 

[Sandy345]

Fergie was already friends with Oprah. So Oprah was not really a "stranger" so to speak. She may have met Fergie's daughters. Harry and Meghan did invite Sarah Duchess of York who was hurt that William and Kate did not invite her to their wedding and she spoke out about it. I don't think Meghan married for the title and never will believe that. This will never be Edward/Wallis 2.0. THe Queen never denied their marriage and SHE invited them to a memorial service for Queen Mary in the sixties. She also went with Philip and CHArles to visit the Windsors and it seemed cordial with Charles being warmly greeted by Wallis. Harry never was king who abdicated and is way down in line of succession. Also the Windsors were childless and the Sussexes will raise a family. Perhaps he envied the life of Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall who also are way down in succession and who are now leading their own lives. Harry never has a chance of being monarch. I believe Harry and Meghan were especially hurt by how their little son was trashed by the media and the royals never spoke out against it.

 

[Duchess_Watcher]

I don't remember Archie being attacked expect one person and that was wrong. Harry has a close relationship with Fergie over the years and he is extremely close with Eugenie (Well maybe not anymore but who knows).

William & Kate didn't need to invite Fergie. She was Andrew's e-wife, yet they snubbed a cousin like Lady Gabriella Windsor. How does this make sense?

 

[Sandy345]

That was a very very mean offensive and thing to have that picture and unprecedented for a royal baby. Outrageous. I think the royals or perhaps CHarles as grandfather should have said something. I think Harry and Eugenie are still friendly since I don't buy into the stories that Meghan "ruined" Eugenie's wedding. Harry himself may have talked to guests about becoming a father, he obviously was thrilled. I think he will be a great father, he loves children. ANd weddings are a place of sharing family news with all the relatives together and all that. I think Eugenie and Harry both like the idea of their respective children growing up in relative privacy.

 

[Mbruno]

e. I definitely saw Meghan's hand in that and I also believe she never intended to stay in the UK after the wedding. I think the UK press played straight into her hands with criticising her a lot as it gave her the perfect excuse to go.

That is the key point, isn't it? If indeed Meghan never intended to stay permanently in the UK and her plan was always to get the prince, do a brief tour of duty in the RF, and then cash in on the title and the fame back home in the US, then the whole victimization routine is only an actress playing a role to fit her narrative and provide an excuse for her departure as you said. Of course, that is only a pretty wild conjecture at this point.

 

[Sandy345]

I disagree with that. It takes two to make a relationship. Harry did not have trouble breaking up with his exes. If he wanted out the relationship would have ended quickly. I do think Harry wanted out for years and he said so, I think he was looking for a different sort of role like helping veterans and choosing charities to work with. He is very popular with veterans and he relates well to them. I think the two are genuinely in love. She could not "get" a Prince without his full cooperation. Harry is nobody's fool and has a strong will. If he did not he would not even think of doing what he's doing now. I do think they were overcriticized. Like when she was criticized in the media for "disrespecting" Harry by changing her ring. This was debunked because Harry gave her more gems to put on the ring to commemorate the upcoming birth of Archie. It is their departure not hers. I think that even if he married another person he still would have left. Just my take on it. He probably had unresolved issues for years. I think it bothered him that he could not be treated like the other soldiers when he was deployed to the front line then had to be taken out when a newspaper leaked where he was. It is probably very complex and Harry may not be talking about the whole reasons for his wanting to leave. I think this was brewing for years.

 

[Mbruno]

I disagree with that. It takes two to make a relationship. Harry did not have trouble breaking up with his exes. If he wanted out the relationship would have ended quickly. I do think Harry wanted out for years and he said so, I think he was looking for a different sort of role like helping veterans and choosing charities to work with. He is very popular with veterans and he relates well to them. I think the two are genuinely in love. She could not "get" a Prince without his full cooperation. Harry is nobody's fool and has a strong will. If he did not he would not even think of doing what he's doing now. I do think they were overcriticized. Like when she was criticized in the media for "disrespecting" Harry by changing her ring. This was debunked because Harry gave her more gems to put on the ring to commemorate the upcoming birth of Archie. It is their departure not hers. I think that even if he married another person he still would have left. Just my take on it. He probably had unresolved issues for years. I think it bothered him that he could not be treated like the other soldiers when he was deployed to the front line then had to be taken out when a newspaper leaked where he was. It is probably very complex and Harry may not be talking about the whole reasons for his wanting to leave. I think this was brewing for years.

It is impossible to tell what would have happened if Harry had married someone else, because he didn't and we don't have the gift of foreseeing alternate realities.


To be fair though, Harry didn't always" break up with his exes"; instead, his exes dumped him, for example when Cressida turned down his marriage offer. Maybe Harry had indeed been looking for a way out for quite some time, but marrying a US citizen who could drag him and his son with her to California was very convenient in that respect. I don't see a clear way out as you put it if Harry had married an upper-class all-English girl like Cressida for example, but again, I don't have the gift of foresight.

 

[Sandy345]

I don't think he proposed to Cressida. She did not say so. Nor did he. He did not seem to be as interested in Cressida as he was in Chelsy. If it were anybody he proposed to it would have been Chelsy.As I see it anyway. Chelsy's family lived in South Africa so if they got married theoretically he may have wanted to move there and spend more time there. He and Cressida may well have divorced if they married. Harry also had other girlfriends that were not long term and he broke up with them. Harry probably could vent more to CHelsy about his outlook on life but I doubt she will ever talk about that. she moved on. I think also Harry has close friends he can go to and confide in. As I said, Harry may or may not ever give the whole story about why he decided to leave...

 

[Alison H]

To be fair, Lady Gabriella Windsor is a second cousin once removed. George VI and the Queen Mother had 14 siblings between them, and that's before you even start on the Spencers, or indeed on Prince Philip's relations. You can only ask so many cousins. I don't know how friendly they are with all the celebs who were there, though. Harry knows the Beckhams through his charity and sporting work, and Meghan has been friendly with Serena Williams for a long time, but they didn't seem that friendly with Oprah or the Clooneys. But Oprah's just doing her job, which is to get big names to appear on her show.

 

[Betsypaige]

That is the key point, isn't it? If indeed Meghan never intended to stay permanently in the UK and her plan was always to get the prince, do a brief tour of duty in the RF, and then cash in on the title and the fame back home in the US, then the whole victimization routine is only an actress playing a role to fit her narrative and provide an excuse for her departure as you said. Of course, that is only a pretty wild conjecture at this point.

Considering they split after 18 months, and must have discussed this for awhile beforehand, I think there’s some basis to think it could be true. To be fair, there’s no proof, so I’ll just say that she didn’t give it a real shot at all.

 

[TLLK]

I don't remember Archie being attacked expect one person and that was wrong. Harry has a close relationship with Fergie over the years and he is extremely close with Eugenie (Well maybe not anymore but who knows).

William & Kate didn't need to invite Fergie. She was Andrew's e-wife, yet they snubbed a cousin like Lady Gabriella Windsor. How does this make sense?

Definitely wrong and offensive however the man was fired by his employer which was the BBC. Honestly I've never quite understood why there seems to be a continued need to demand for more to have happened to that DJ. And as far as I can tell it is not coming from the child's parents who appear to have been satisfied with the DJ receiving his consequence. IMHO it the situation was handled perfectly and it was allowed to quiet down afterwards instead of a drawn out series of condemnations. The Sussexes as Archie's parents were certainly within their rights and could have chosen to make a public statement condemning the cartoon but IMO they wisely did not do so. At that time they appeared to have moved on with getting to know their newborn and as the result of their actions, the cartoon has been largely forgotten. Better still in its place we had first photos with the Queen and DoE and later the christening which is a far better series of lasting images than an offensive cartoon and the resulting brouhaha. I might not always agree with how the Sussexes have handled things, but in 2019, they handled that situation in a mature and professional manner.

 

[Eskimo]

I wouldn’t expect any major dirt on the BRF in the interview.

With everything going on with Prince Philip, there will be a lot of sympathy for the Royals for the foreseeable future, so I doubt Oprah would let them attack the RF too much.

We have to remember that as much as Oprah loves ratings, she isn’t going to do anything to hurt brand Oprah, even by association.

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Her presence was very fake I thought as was the presence of a lot of other celebs. I read that Harry really wanted to attend Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding because he and William had been close to her and her brother growing up yet LG, among others in the family, was not invited to H's wedding while people like Oprah were. I definitely saw Meghan's hand in that and I also believe she never intended to stay in the UK after the wedding. I think the UK press played straight into her hands with criticising her a lot as it gave her the perfect excuse to go.

This is so far-fetched. Are you honestly suggesting that Harry, a grown man, wanted to Gabriella there but Meghan told him no?

There were what? 600 people at their wedding? Including extended family members you've never seen Harry interact with publicly (such as Lady Alexandra Knatchbull – whose wedding Harry, in return, did not attend) and his brother's in-laws. If it meant a lot to him to have Gabriella there, he would've invited her.

 

[Hallo girl]

Who are the brothers in law?

 

[Muhler]

I wouldn’t expect any major dirt on the BRF in the interview.

With everything going on with Prince Philip, there will be a lot of sympathy for the Royals for the foreseeable future, so I doubt Oprah would let them attack the RF too much.

We have to remember that as much as Oprah loves ratings, she isn’t going to do anything to hurt brand Oprah, even by association.

Hmm.

She might very well postpone a controversial interview, not least in the eventuality that Prince Phillip should die. She would actually be doing H&M a big favor doing so.
But not allowing the interview to become too controversial?
No, I don't think that will happen.

Keep in mind that this interview is potentially a goldmine. The more controversial, the more money in the bank. Not just for Oprah but for the entire network and investors behind Oprah.
I don't believe Oprah is in the position where she for moral reasons can ditch an interview that could be a big source of income.
And why should she? She would merely be asking questions any journalist would dream about asking H&M if the they got the chance. If H&M decides to answer in a way that may hurt themselves, it's not her fault.
As long as Oprah merely quietly ask the right questions and otherwise listen and allow H&M to talk (something she admittedly does have problems with!) I don't think it will hurt her. On the contrary. She may have a comeback from this.
It will be H&M who may hurt the BRF, not her.

I firmly believe H&M wanted this interview more than Oprah. And if Oprah has scruples, H&M may very well turn to someone who have fewer qualms.

 

[Eskimo]

Hmm.

She might very well postpone a controversial interview, not least in the eventuality that Prince Phillip should die. She would actually be doing H&M a big favor doing so.
But not allowing the interview to become too controversial?
No, I don't think that will happen.

Keep in mind that this interview is potentially a goldmine. The more controversial, the more money in the bank. Not just for Oprah but for the entire network and investors behind Oprah.
I don't believe Oprah is in the position where she for moral reasons can ditch an interview that could be a big source of income.
And why should she? She would merely be asking questions any journalist would dream about asking H&M if the they got the chance. If H&M decides to answer in a way that may hurt themselves, it's not her fault.
As long as Oprah merely quietly ask the right questions and otherwise listen and allow H&M to talk (something she admittedly does have problems with!) I don't think it will hurt her. On the contrary. She may have a comeback from this.
It will be H&M who may hurt the BRF, not her.

I firmly believe H&M wanted this interview more than Oprah. And if Oprah has scruples, H&M may very well turn to someone who have fewer qualms.

I agree to an extent but Oprah also knows the professional victim mentality. If there’s backlash from the interview, this couple will give a few more interview blaming Oprah— which is what Oprah won’t want. She’s already in enough trouble for not being supportive enough of her fellow blacks

 

[Sandy345]

I don't think it will be controversial. Just have a feeling.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Why would he not invite his cousins to his wedding? That makes no sense, that is where Meghan upsets me but you invite people like Clooney, Amal and Oprah that she had never met or only met once or twice. She wanted the title, the marriage to a prince and the fame but what she didn't want is to stand behind Kate for the next 60 plus years. She saw that this was an institution of rules.

The Queen may have been better off letting it becomes Edward/Wallis 2.0 and deny the marriage. She never intended to stay and she used the press criticism to leave.

If HMQ or the PoW had come out publicly against Harry and Meghan's marriage they wouid have been branded as racists around the world. The condemnation would have been immediate and unforgiving. The entire BRF would have been "cancelled" on Social Media.

I am 100% convinced of this. And I say it as a WOC.

The die was cast the day that TV starlet (I forget her name) introduced Harry to Meghan. There was no turning back.