The Duke & Duchess of Sussex with Oprah II - Interview, March 7th-9th 2021

[Marengo]

I think posters have made it clear how often they are not going to watch this interview. If you don't want to watch it, don't watch it. If you want to watch it on loop for the rest of the year do just that. But let's not bore other members with our television preferences as it does not fall within the scope of this thread.

You can discuss alternative television tips in this thread.

Please move on...

 

[evolvingdoors]

I just think: if Diana were alive, which side would she be in this story? it's interesting, but we'll never know.

None of this would have happened if Diana was still alive!
I half wonder if Harry would have even ended up with Meghan, but that's neither here nor there now.



I must didn't watch the interview- and don't plan to, but have seen quotes online.
The one thing I saw was Harry talking about "being saved" and how Meghan "saved me" - or something to that nature, and it really shook me, that's not the healthiest way to talk about your spouse. it's quite alarming.

 

[ACO]

CBS has put out a few new clips.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1368918005158191111

"Rude and racist are not the same thing."

 

[Lumutqueen]

Anyone think they wanted this to be their Panorma? Am I a bit late to the party on that view.

I really get the sense that they're pushing the whole "three in the marriage" view except the third person was "The Firm" this time.

If they did think that, it was foolish of them because they aren't as popular as Diana was to ever drum up the outcry she got. They needed to stick it out in RF for a lot longer than they did.

 

[UglyAmerican]

None of this would have happened if Diana was still alive!
I half wonder if Harry would have even ended up with Meghan, but that's neither here nor there now.

That's interesting to think about. As horrible as it is to say, I'm not sure Harry's parents continuing their war in the media, and in private, throughout his entire life would have been so much better for him than Diana's death was. He'd have had two living parents pulling him in two completely different directions, and trying to inculcate two completely different sets of values and expectations. No matter what he did, he'd have disappointed one of them. Regardless of who he married, that wouldn't have been easy for him.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

The silliness about the secret wedding ceremony is something that can be verified.

My two biggest concerns....from what I am reading here. ..because I didn't watch:

1) The idea of Meghan cloistered, suicidal and on the verge of a nervous breakdown and being denied help when she begged for it. This is shocking, cruel and unconscionable IF true. It renders all the yammering about the importance of erasing the stigma around mental health coming from the Windsors complete #$@%.

2) The idea of handwringing from a senior member of the BRF about the skin tone of any future children of the couple. Any child of a mixed race and a White person will look nearly 100% White but even if not...SO WHAT? Seriously. I NEED this one to be a lie. Or a misunderstanding. Or anything. Because if it's true...it sheds new light on MM's alleged difficult diva behavior before and during her time in the BRF. How dare anyone ruminate about the possibility of her child being "too dark".

3) Harry's estrangement from his father sheds new light on the "I am my MOTHER'S SON" Archewell statement a few months back. It's very sad, imo.

It's a good thing...a VERY good thing...that it will be at least two decades before George and Louis marry. Because i cannot imagine any sane young woman wanting to marry into that family in the wake of this interview.

 

[Denville]

I suppose they could also have found a "standing structure" somewhere as well, possibly the same Orangery.

But yes the other points do stand and if the AofC actually performed a full legally binding wedding three days before then having another actual wedding later throws up all sorts of questions, even if there were no witnesses. I actually know someone who works at Church House, I might email them and see if they have any light to shed.

A.

how coudl they have a legally binding ceremony without a licence and 2 witnesses??????

 

[Kellydofc]

Anyone think they wanted this to be their Panorma? Am I a bit late to the party on that view.

I really get the sense that they're pushing the whole "three in the marriage" view except the third person was "The Firm" this time.

If they did think that, it was foolish of them because they aren't as popular as Diana was to ever drum up the outcry she got. They needed to stick it out in RF for a lot longer than they did.

I'm seeing quite a stir of sympathy for them here in the US. So it might play out well for them in the short term here. Especially among certain groups of people and please understand I'm generally very left leaning so my entire Twitter feed was flooded with people who bought everything they were saying. Long term, I don't know people can be very fickle.

 

[Fem]

Anyone think they wanted this to be their Panorma? Am I a bit late to the party on that view.

I really get the sense that they're pushing the whole "three in the marriage" view except the third person was "The Firm" this time.

If they did think that, it was foolish of them because they aren't as popular as Diana was to ever drum up the outcry she got. They needed to stick it out in RF for a lot longer than they did.

Yes, they absolutely wanted this to be their Panorama. But they don't have the status of Diana, and they will never have it.

how coudl they have a legally binding ceremony without a licence and 2 witnesses??????

They couldn't

 

[Princess_Eleanor]

So I watched the clip where Meghan talks about the "secret wedding."

Meghan (using a lot of hand gestures): "3 days before our wedding, we got married! No one knows that."
Oprah (sounding like I do when I feign more excitement about something than I'm feeling to be honest): Ahhhhh
Oprah looks from Meghan to Harry, looking for a reaction or to engage him in the conversation, but he looks away and stares at the chicken he is stroking. (all of this being filmed in the chicken coop)


Can I just say, that not only is the story of the secret wedding bizarre, so is the scene of it being told...

 

[Denville]

So I watched the clip where Meghan talks about the "secret wedding."

Meghan (using a lot of hand gestures): "3 days before our wedding, we got married! No one knows that."
Oprah (sounding like I do when I feign more excitement about something than I'm feeling to be honest): Ahhhhh
Oprah looks from Meghan to Harry, looking for a reaction or to engage him in the conversation, but he looks away and stares at the chicken he is stroking. (all of this being filmed in the chicken coop)


Can I just say, that not only is the story of the secret wedding bizarre, so is the scene of it being told...

Does meghan not realise how STUPID this makes her look? Perhaps Harry does realise it and is embarrased....

 

[Tatiana Maria]

US reaction: America's fury at Royal family over Duchess of Sussex's racism accusations

America reacted with widespread anger at Buckingham Palace following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Serena Williams, the US tennis star who co-hosted the Duchess's baby shower in 2019, said she was a victim of "systematic oppression". [...] Ms Williams added: "I know first hand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of colour to minimise us."

[...]

Much of the focus in the US was on the revelation that a senior royal discussed the Duke and Duchess's son Archie and "how dark his skin might be when he's born."

[...]

Joe Biden's White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield weighed in after the Duchess's comments to Ms Winfrey that the palace had not "protected" her.

Ms Bedingfield "liked" a tweet repeating the Duchess's words: "IN MY OLD JOB THERE WAS A UNION AND THEY WOULD PROTECT ME."

[...]

Civil rights activists said they were shocked and dismayed following the interview.

Bernice King, daughter of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, said: "Royalty is not a shield from the devastation and despair of racism."

Meena Harris, niece of Vice President Kamala Harris, and a bestselling children's author, declared it "Meghan Markle Appreciation Day".

Ms Harris wrote on Twitter: "She was suicidal and begged for help. Oprah bout to fight somebody her damn self."

[...]

Roxane Gay, the best-selling author of "Bad Feminist" said the Duchess had been "driven to suicidal ideation by colonial racism, royal indifference and the British press willing to carry royal water."

[...]

On social media some of the anger at the palace boiled over.

There were calls to "finish what the American Revolution started" and "burn down" the Monarchy.

There was widespread praise in America for Ms Winfrey's handling of the interview.

 

[Claire]

I really hope the Arch of Canterbury tell them what happened - if anything happened at all. Meghan might then said it was another priest.
I believe that Meghan's staff will tell a completely other story about Archie's birth - saying you had not idea about a custom that has gone all the way back to the 1970's is amusing. Also didn't Meghan say that she refused to pose for pictures after given birth and that providing her child on a platter. Wait - we mustn't say that she had anything to do with Finding Freedom.
Essential this was to pay back or get cozy with Oprah and the black Hollywood Elite - hope it was worth it. I expect Meghan to have several follow up - what I was too scared to say in 2021. I do expect M&H have earned money off it - or favors in one way or another they got money out of this.

 

[Heavs]

how coudl they have a legally binding ceremony without a licence and 2 witnesses??????

I was thinking more of him as Archbish doing a full ceremony "in the eyes of God" twice and my thoughts got a bit muddled. You can't have as many just religious services as you want in the CofE.

An informal blessing on their lives together is different from Meghan saying they literally got married three days before.

 

[UglyAmerican]

how coudl they have a legally binding ceremony without a licence and 2 witnesses??????

I don't believe for a second the AoC would have gone along with a very public farce if the prior ceremony had been legal. He asked for objections, didn't he? If someone had stood up and said "Meghan's divorce isn't final," what would he have done? Said "Oops, too late now"?

 

[ACO]

I mean is it really that surprising that they might have wanted to just have a small moment between them? I don't think it was a wedding in that legal terms but they spoke of all the time they spent with the Archbishop of Canterbury. I can very much see them just wanting to exchange their vows to each other before the mania of the wedding especially with all the chaos at the time. The official wedding. The signing all that jazz happened on the the actual day we all witnessed.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Meghan claims royals changed rules so Archie did not get title: my understanding is that the letters patent makes Archie not a prince and it has been this way since the Wessex’s kids were born, regardless of what they say the palace decided when he was about to be born so don’t get why there’s drama around this?

It has been that way since 1917. (The Wessex children were grandchildren of the monarch, while Archie was a great-grandchild.)

https://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/prince_highness_docs.htm#1917_2

Whitehall, 11th December, 1917.
[...] It is declared by the Letters Patent that [...] the grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes.​

 

[Denville]

I was thinking more of him as Archbish doing a full ceremony "in the eyes of God" twice and my thoughts got a bit muddled. You can't have as many just religious services as you want in the CofE.

An informal blessing on their lives together is different from Meghan saying they literally got married three days before.

i know. I think Meg thinks it is "Oh so romantic" to have some kind of "ceremony" in the back garden.. but to be honest I can't see the Archbishop going for it. Possibly he gave them his blessing and she thought that that was some kind of ceremony or marriage. (or elected to think so and told Oprah about it.)
She just sounds stupid and in terms of what she said about Archie's title and security, there's no excuse for that level of stupidity so she must be deliberately misleading...

 

[Erin9]

The silliness about the secret wedding ceremony is something that can be verified.



My two biggest concerns....from what I am reading here. ..because I didn't watch:



1) The idea of Meghan cloistered, suicidal and on the verge of a nervous breakdown and being denied help when she begged for it. This is shocking, cruel and unconscionable IF true. It renders all the yammering about the importance of erasing the stigma around mental health coming from the Windsors complete #$@%.



2) The idea of handwringing from a senior member of the BRF about the skin tone of any future children of the couple. Any child of a mixed race and a White person will look nearly 100% White but even if not...SO WHAT? Seriously. I NEED this one to be a lie. Or a misunderstanding. Or anything. Because if it's true...it sheds new light on MM's alleged difficult diva behavior before and during her time in the BRF. How dare anyone ruminate about the possibility of her child being "too dark".



3) Harry's estrangement from his father sheds new light on the "I am my MOTHER'S SON" Archewell statement a few months back. It's very sad, imo.



It's a good thing...a VERY good thing...that it will be at least two decades before George and Louis marry. Because i cannot imagine any sane young woman wanting to marry into that family in the wake of this interview.

Catherine seems very grounded and to have done quite well marrying into the BRF. So- IMO- that right there says a lot about Meghan’s version of events.

Given that Harry and Meghan couldn’t get their stories straight on the race issue....that just makes me wonder what else was off about their story. Like all of it. If race came up at all- I’d about bet what was actually said and meant were pretty different than what the Sussexes said. They had to bring up race as a selling point of this interview.

I don’t buy for one second that Meghan was denied mental health help. We know for a fact Harry has gotten some. Not to mention how much the family talks about it.

I can see Charles needing a time out from Harry after his behavior. Harry sounds very entitled- and likely someone difficult to have a calm conversion with once he sets mind to something. He’s bitter over a year later.

 

[Denville]

I mean is it really that surprising that they might have wanted to just have a small moment between them? I don't think it was a wedding in that legal terms but they spoke of all the time they spent with the Archbishop of Canterbury. I can very much see them just wanting to exchange their vows to each other before the mania of the wedding especially with all the chaos at the time. The official wedding. The signing all that jazz happened on the the actual day we all witnessed.

Then Meghan would hardly have said "we got married three days before the official cermoney...." (or she doesn't know anything about anything in her new life.)

 

[UglyAmerican]

If Harry and Meghan had decided they wanted a mental health professional to visit Meghan at their home every week, or even every day, how would anyone have prevented it?

 

[Kellydofc]

US reaction: America's fury at Royal family over Duchess of Sussex's racism accusations

I knew this would be the reaction here because that was people had been saying leading up to it. I have to give Meghan this much. She's very media savvy. She knew the comment about Archie's skin color and not supposedly getting help for her mental health would rile up the most people and now everyone who doesn't like her is absolutely a racist. And Britain is a country run by racists and we must tear them down and she's saved Harry.

 

[acdc1]

This interview truly demonstrated to me something that many of us here expressed worry about years ago at their engagement: Meghan was truly unprepared for the role that she was marrying into. She claims to have done very little preparation on her own, Harry didn't prepare her, and even after marrying there still seems to be things that she was very surprised about (like Archie not getting princely titles at birth- it's in the Letters Patent for someone in his position and has been since 1917! This is not something new that was singled out just for him). While it seems like Americans, particularly celebrities and the media, are rallying around her and calling for the abolishment of the monarchy, I think that they did not come off well in this interview at all, and that it is going to come back to bite them someday.

 

[Fem]

Catherine seems very grounded and to have done quite well marrying into the BRF. So- IMO- that right there says a lot about Meghan’s version of events.

IMHO, which was confirmed by Meghan's own words yesterday, she needed more time. As was claimed by many posters since the news of the engagement, a year or two in UK before the engagement would do her a world of good. She had absolutely no idea how the BRF works, how the day-to-day work looks like, how familial relations are, she had no support system in place. And how could she, she was engaged and jumped into the royal work a month after moving to UK. At that point they were in a serious relationship for a year, and they were doing things long distance. Had they given this more time, she would know what she was getting into.

And before I'm attacked, yes, I think there is a lot that the palace, and by that I mean the Sussexes/Cambridges offices did wrong. I understand why no one would think to lead a 35-year old former actress by hand, but they both clearly needed more support in place. Though we will never know if the advice and support was there, they just weren't willing to take it and use it, as it didn't fit their views. Meghan once claimed she ignored her friends' advice, so why not do the same with palace officials?

 

[Heavs]

If Harry and Meghan had decided they wanted a mental health professional to visit Meghan at their home every week, or even every day, how would anyone have prevented it?

That just doesn't make sense. The part about asking for help from HR and getting told it wasn't possible because she's not an employee might well be true but we know Harry and other members of the family have talked about getting counselling and the importance of reaching out and not being ashamed for years. We know they also tried to get Diana to see therapists.

They also didn't need permission from staffers to arrange for therapy if it was needed or even time off.

It's obviously horrible if she did feel suicidal but it seems there's at least a piece of context we're not getting here.

 

[Erin9]

I knew this would be the reaction here because that was people had been saying leading up to it. I have to give Meghan this much. She's very media savvy. She knew the comment about Archie's skin color and not supposedly getting help for her mental health would rile up the most people and now everyone who doesn't like her is absolutely a racist. And Britain is a country run by racists and we must tear them down and she's saved Harry.

That’s some of the reactions. Not all of them. I’ve even plenty bashing them too.

But- IA- a lot of people were going to believe anything Harry and Meghan said because it fit the narrative already in their minds. Most of what they alleged doesn’t ring true to me. I don’t believe most of what they said happened the way they said it did anyway. Starting with the race story they couldn’t even agree on....

Meghan is very media savvy. She knew exactly what stories to tell. One more reason to doubt her veracity IMO. Oh and doing this while pregnant- very smart. I thought that before the interview and even more so now.

 

[Fem]

This interview truly demonstrated to me something that many of us here expressed worry about years ago at their engagement: Meghan was truly unprepared for the role that she was marrying into. She claims to have done very little preparation on her own, Harry didn't prepare her, and even after marrying there still seems to be things that she was very surprised about (like Archie not getting princely titles at birth- it's in the Letters Patent for someone in his position and has been since 1917! This is not something new that was singled out just for him). While it seems like Americans, particularly celebrities and the media, are rallying around her and calling for the abolishment of the monarchy, I think that they did not come off well in this interview at all, and that it is going to come back to bite them someday.

I don't think the BRF will need to do anything about it. This interview will be destroyed by royal experts in a week. I wouldn't even be surprised if the Brits rallied around their Royal Family and the support for the monarchy in the UK got higher.

If Harry and Meghan had decided they wanted a mental health professional to visit Meghan at their home every week, or even every day, how would anyone have prevented it?

How could anyone prevent that? Her friends visited Frogmore freely, the same could be done by any mental health specialist.

I think the important distinction here is that she said she wanted to be admitted somewhere. We don't know if the place she suggested was even in the UK - it might not have been, so she got a negative answer. But if she wanted to do it in a privacy of her own home or some established clinic in London? No one would have stopped her.

 

[Erin9]

That just doesn't make sense. The part about asking for help from HR and getting told it wasn't possible because she's not an employee might well be true but we know Harry and other members of the family have talked about getting counselling and the importance of reaching out and not being ashamed for years. We know they also tried to get Diana to see therapists.

They also didn't need permission from staffers to arrange for therapy if it was needed or even time off.

It's obviously horrible if she did feel suicidal but it seems there's at least a piece of context we're not getting here.

I think the whole interview reeks of context we’re not getting.

 

[soapstar]

Regarding the wedding in the backyard, according to reporters, it was a private blessing and not a wedding.

The law says that the C of E can’t marry people a) outdoors in a venue such as a back yard; or b) without witnesses. But now @JonnyDymond reports... a person close to the Sussexes saying this “backyard wedding” was a private exchange of vows. The couple were legally married on May 19th. The BBC was told that the event had been incorrectly described in last night’s interview by Meghan.

Lambeth Palace says “The Archbishop does not comment on personal or pastoral matters”. So there we are — a personal/pastoral matter. And not a marriage.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1368901804726059011

@lambethpalace says it wont comment on the claim made by the Duchess of Sussex #Meghan that she and Prince Harry were married in a secret backyard ceremony three days before their wedding at Windsor, as it’s a personal and pastoral matter.

However, marriages in the @churchofengland must be solemnized by a member of the clergy in a church, or in a place specified in a special licence (e.g. a cathedral, a chapel, a hospital), in the presence of two witnesses.

Given those details, I think it’s highly unlikely that what #MeghanAndHarry referred to in their interview was a ‘marriage’. It was likely to be a private blessing of some kind.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1368901595770028035

 

[chelly]

Watching from the cbs site.

She talked about security and protection a lot. I wonder how much fear and worry Harry put in her head.

Harry should know about the title thing. I find it odd that she didn’t know a thing about the royal family.

The Kate thing, something seems off there. If it was resolved why not explain it. She just made it worse for them both.

The skin color thing, I wonder if it was a offhand remark that wasn’t meant to be racist. I can’t see any member of the family meaning to be racist.

I wish a member of the family would speak up, because I think we need the other side.