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

[Denville]

I've heard and read several comments expressing disbelief about Meghan saying that when she had suicidal thoughts, she wasn't able to have help when she requested it. That's not exactly what she said. She actually said that her request to go somewhere for help was denied on the grounds that it wouldn't look good. She didn't say she was unable to see a doctor or therapist, this was a specific request for what sounds like a residential stay in a clinic. She talked of how frightening these thoughts were and that she was afraid to be left alone with them so I can understand how she might want some 24/7 treatment in a specialist environment. In order to have that, she'd have to liaise with 'the institution' as they'd be managing the security and comms. It isn't something that she could just do herself or that Harry could arrange for her privately, unlike some therapy sessions.

It sill beggars belief that they would tell her she could not have it. It might be difficult to arrange, but they could have done it, and i find it hard to believe that having supported Harry and Diana when they had mental health issues they would not do the same for her...

 

[Kellydofc]

I think what was pretty much said was that Harry is very much aware that he is entitled to the same protection, lifestyle and manner of address as William. I think if they try to take the title from him - they are likely to go to court over it.

They should have just given them everything they wanted. In a way I feel the royal family is been held hostage and blackmailed here.

I think it's clear he feels entitled to a lot of things. He could feel entitled to be king and make Meghan queen but it doesn't matter the system works the way it works.

Since it would be Parliament who would strip him of his titles, because that's what it would take, an act of Parliament, I say good luck to him in suing the British government to get a title back. That's just going to make him even more unpopular and he STILL won't get the title back.

I'm glad they cut him off. He said he wanted financial independence and that's what they gave him. I'm sorry you don't get to walk away from the family and then demand they still support you and give you things they give no one else and demand titles for your children they're not entitled to. If the royal family started doing that where would it end? By saying no to Harry and Meghan's demands they're actually showing they won't be held hostage they're using the same rules for them they use for every non-working royal.

I understand a lot of people here think Harry's family should still get security because of his threat level and the queen or Charles should be forced to pay for that. And sorry but I say no. Once again, loads of people all over the world have to pay for their own security. Congress people in the United States pay for their own security. H&M made the decision to go it on their own, a decision they announced without speaking to his family. Decisions have consequences and one of those in this case has to be figuring out their own security. These are not two teenagers, these are two late 30s adults who just signed huge deals with Netflix and Spotify. If they can't afford security at their current mansion then they need to move to somewhere they can afford it.

What's abundantly clear to me is H&M didn't really think through what they were doing or not the logistics of it. They thought they could walk away from the royal family and carry on living like royals and someone else would foot the bill. If the only way for them to realize that was not going to be the case was for the purse strings to be completely cut then I say bravo to Charles for figuring that out, cutting them and not being held hostage by two petulant bullies.

 

[QueenMathilde]

Personally- the racism claim was one of the easiest thing to believe- even before Meghan admitted to it on the interview.

Well it would be if it were Prince Phillip. But Harry stressed it wasn't Prince Phillip. I don't see the others saying anything like that. Harry seems to be implying it's Charles. He seemed bitter Charles stopped paying for things when he quit. But who gets paid for quitting a job? Why would Charles continue to support him financially?


Apparently the queen refused to go out there and make another "We still love them" comment after the crisis talks yesterday. Who can blame her? Harry threw them all under the bus. Just like Meghan threw her whole family except for her mother under the bus. They're left with no one now.
How does that put Archie in a safer position? I don't know if he mentioned it but paying back for renovations from Frogmore was something the pubic was demanding because Harry quit. I read demands where they wanted him to pay back the wedding too - the royal family didn't make him do that.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/queen-refuses-sign-off-official-23632098

 

[Denville]

I
What's abundantly clear to me is H&M didn't really think through what they were doing or not the logistics of it. They thought they could walk away from the royal family and carry on living like royals and someone else would foot the bill. If the only way for them to realize that was not going to be the case was for the purse strings to be completely cut then I say bravo to Charles for figuring that out, cutting them and not being held hostage by two petulant bullies.

Its quite amusing.. but I think you're right. They wanted to quit royal life.. but they still thought that the Canadian govt or the British taxpayer should pay for their security indefinitely, and its seems that they thought that Charles should bankroll them indefinitely while they did a few big money making jobs here and there to make money.. or did an occasional day working for a charity...

 

[Lilyflo]

It sill beggars belief that they would tell her she could not have it. It might be difficult to arrange, but they could have done it, and i find it hard to believe that having supported Harry and Diana when they had mental health issues they would not do the same for her...

So are you saying she's telling lies or are you saying the response she got is shocking?

 

[Claire]

I really would have liked more information about the request for help - what she asked for and who she asked it to
For example - was this to a doctor, the royal family or a staff member, did she till them her condition and that she needed a hospital or did she say I need a break or a leave of absence. Did she say mental institution or Santa Barbara Spar

If it was a doctor he is in serious trouble - but I don't think it was. I think she ask a member of staff - possible for PA.

 

[Denville]

So are you saying she's telling lies or are you saying the response she got is shocking?

I dont know what the truth it, but I find it hard to believe that the RF and royal staff would refuse her help. If they did, why didn't Harry step in?

 

[Purrs]

Looking for clarification and thoughts on two things. First, Meghan said that she was up in the middle of the night googling the British National Anthem. Given that she lived in Canada for seven years as an adult working there, would she not have been exposed to that anthem many times? I'm not sure about the answer to this, would love to hear from some Canadians.

Highly unlikely. Canadians have not used "God Save the Queen" routinely since the 1960s, before our centennial in 1967. "O Canada" is our national anthem & it is always sung, sometimes in both English & French. I'm 65, I was in grade 2 in 1964 when they stopped singing "God Save the Queen" every morning in classrooms. (I still can sing the first verse.) Some schools in English Canada teach them a line or 2 in French. The usage of "God Save the Queen" at sporting events/special occasions seems to have stopped at that time too. I think it's only used at Royal visits now.

They also stopped putting up pictures of the British Royal Family in classrooms then. Some older schools with older buildings still have a picture of the Queen in the school hallways but it has long ceased to be routine (and never was in French Canada. There was less of an emphasis on Canada's British heritage in the 60s & more an emphasis on 2 founding peoples (English & French), then later a recognition that many Canadians don't have either heritage. (British heritage is a minority here in Toronto) There has more recently been increasing recognition of indigenous people. (I'm a retired teacher.)

Most Canadians except for seniors don't know the words or how to sing "God Save the Queen" . My 32 year old daughter has never sung it, I don't think my younger sister age 62 has either.

BTW I noticed an older picture of the Queen & the Dutch Royal family (3 generations) in the hall at my mom's long term care home. (It is run by a Dutch nonprofit organization - we aren't Dutch.) I was surprised because it's quite rare to see pictures of Queen now days.

 

[ACO]

Another unseen clip from Oprah interview. Here Meghan explains the expectation of privacy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1369131436008116225

—

With a lot of this stuff I come to the conclusion it likely happened in some form. Why would she lie knowing it will be fact checked to hell? Knowing they would likely ask for proof. As I mentioned upthread, she purposefully stated more than once she had emails and letters. She clearly kept documentation.

Where it can get complicated is that I feel things got lost in translation between individuals. I can see how conversation might have been perceived differently from both sides. I don’t doubt both sides could see things very differently but yet the incidents still very much occurred.

 

[Kellydofc]

The problem with the British Anthem is eveyone in the world knows the first verse and only a very small percentage of the UK knows pass the 2nd verse.

That's like the American National Anthem, my guess is most people don't know there are three verses. We sure as heck never sing them.

 

[RandyDrx]

I think they should be stripped from their royal titles, they said they felt trapped right? Then surely they don't have any problem if the BRF or the parliament removed their titles.

 

[Yashal]

Well Meghan claims Kate wrote her an apology letter. No doubt she kept it. Seems Meghan kept a lot of paper trails because she likely knew she might need them.
...

Yep, just like Charles asking Harry to stop discussing certain stuff over the phone and "put this all in writing".

I wonder if all those papers will ever see the light of day.

 

[Denville]

I think they should be stripped from their royal titles, they said they felt trapped right? Then surely they don't have any problem if the BRF or the parliament removed their titles.

Since they seeme to think that the fact of being part of the BRF entitled them to an endless supply of money and help from the taxpayer and Charles, i doubt if they would really be happy if they lost their title.

 

[Yashal]

Well it would be if it were Prince Phillip. But Harry stressed it wasn't Prince Phillip. I don't see the others saying anything like that. Harry seems to be implying it's Charles. He seemed bitter Charles stopped paying for things when he quit. But who gets paid for quitting a job? Why would Charles continue to support him financially?
...

I think he had Oprah made that clarifying statement because he knew many would think of the DoE.

 

[sophie25]

I am stunned that Meghan accused the royal family, essentially the Queen, of not giving Archie a title because he is mixed race. The family should defend themselves rigourously from that accusation, I don't believe it for one single minute. What a truly horrible thing to say and I am totally disappointed in Harry for allowing her to say it.

 

[RandyDrx]

Since they seeme to think that the fact of being part of the BRF entitled them to an endless supply of money and help from the taxpayer and Charles, i doubt if they would really be happy if they lost their title.

Maybe that will teach them about how every actions have consequences.

 

[amaryllus]

The Royal family going about their business as per usual and ignoring this travesty is the perfect choice. I believe H&M would love nothing more than for this mudslinging to continue so they have more Ammo, more words to twist, more vague and confusing insinuations to make so they can continue their Whine and cheese personal tragic operetta. Similar to how if you give a tantrum throwing 6 year old attention .

 

[Lilyflo]

I really would have liked more information about the request for help - what she asked for and who she asked it to
For example - was this to a doctor, the royal family or a staff member, did she till them her condition and that she needed a hospital or did she say I need a break or a leave of absence. Did she say mental institution or Santa Barbara Spar

If it was a doctor he is in serious trouble - but I don't think it was. I think she ask a member of staff - possible for PA.

Meghan's words after describing her frightening thoughts about not wanting to be alive anymore: "I went to the institution and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help and I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution."

 

[Denville]

The Royal family going about their business as per usual and ignoring this travesty is the perfect choice. I believe H&M would love nothing more than for this mudslinging to continue so they have more Ammo, more words to twist, more vague and confusing insinuations to make so they can continue their Whine and cheese personal tragic operetta. Similar to how if you give a tantrum throwing 6 year old attention .

I think that's true. They are getting a lot of media attention right nwo and thats "good" becuase they hope it will bring in money.. but they also want ATTENTION! so if the BRF make a response I suspect it will only stir them to go on throiwing a fit...

 

[Denville]

Meghan's words after describing her frightening thoughts about not wanting to be alive anymore: "I went to the institution and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help and I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution."

and what does she mean by the insitution??

 

[Lilyflo]

and what does she mean by the insitution??

Early in the interview she makes a distinction between 'the family' and 'the institution'. So whoever she made the request to wasn't a family member but presumably would be someone senior enough to grant or deny her request "to go somewhere".

 

[Erin9]

Harry might be hurt but he said he wanted to be financially independent. He decided he didn't want to be a working royal. He's a 36 year old man. Did he really think his dad was going to keep footing the bill when he walked away? If so he's either incredibly naïve or incredibly entitled. Either way going on tv and throwing his father and brother under the bus isn't going to get his dad to pay for his security and will in fact probably end his relationship with his father and brother for all time. Maybe this is the ultimate case of be careful what you wish for because Harry's sure got his freedom and independence now.

He seems to me to be both naive and entitled. Harry’s image as a regular, down to earth guy is well and truly gone.

Totally agree- he asked for freedom and independence. He got it. Turns out he didn’t like what that meant. What a shock: he and Meghan didn’t plan ahead.

 

[Yashal]

Also, Meghan said that there is a difference between rude and racist. Absolutely right. I'm not even sure if I would consider "Waity Katie" a rude insult.

Still, I would like to point out that there is a woman in the RF who had to endure all types of sexist slurs and that's Camilla. I've lost the count of how many times she and Diana have been compared on the sole basis of look. And yes that's sexism because, afaik, that never happened with Mark Phillips and Timothy Laurence. Yes, different people, different spotlights, differente situations, but different genders too.

I say that without taking anything away from Meghan's claims. I hope that if there will be any investigations on her allegations, everyone involved cooperates so to clarify things.

 

[Mbruno]

Now days no. Canadians have not used "God Save the Queen" routinely since the 1960s, before our centennial in 1967 - "O Canada" is our national anthem & it is always sung. I'm 65, I was in grade 2 in 1964 when they stopped singing every morning in classrooms. (I still can sing the first verse.) Its usage at sporting events/special occasions seems to have stopped at that time too. I think it's only used at Royal visits now. They also stopped putting up pictures of the British Royal Family in classrooms then. Some older schools with older buildings still have a picture of the Queen in the school hallways but it has long ceased to be routine (and never was in French Canada). There was less of an emphasis on Canada's British heritage in the 60s & more an emphasis on 2 founding peoples (English & French), then later a recognition that many Canadians don't have either heritage (British heritage is a minority here in Toronto) and increasing recognition of indigenous people.

(I'm a retired teacher BTW).

God Save The Queen is still played though during royal tours, isn't it ?


And I believe the Governor General of Canada is normally greeted with the so-called Vice Regal Salute, which includes the first six bars of "God Save the Queen" immediately followed by the first four and last four bars of "O Canada".



See below God Save The Queen followed by the Vice Regal Salute interpreted on the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The Salute is played upon the departure of the Governor General.

In particular, in connection with military ceremonies, it is important to note that Canada's Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly, the British North America Act, 1867) states that:

15. The Command-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia, and of all Naval and Military Forces, of and in Canada, is hereby declared to continue to be vested in the Queen.

Moreover, the National Defence Act states that

14 The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces.

 

[Erin9]

I don't think it's unusual for wealthy families to financially support their children.

Those children also didn’t set up a website publicly announcing that they wanted to be financially independent and informing their family and world what their new role in the family business was going to be.

Harry got what he claimed to want. Except he didn’t really. Like everything else with him and Meghan seemingly-everything had to be their way- or not all. Compromise is probably a word they wouldn’t understand even if they looked it up in the dictionary.

 

[Erin9]

I think what was pretty much said was that Harry is very much aware that he is entitled to the same protection, lifestyle and manner of address as William. I think if they try to take the title from him - they are likely to go to court over it.



They should have just given them everything they wanted. In a way I feel the royal family is been held hostage and blackmailed here.

He definitely was not entitled to the same lifestyle as William. He never was.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

When you are desperately miserable and feeling suicidal you quite obviously are not thinking straight.

It might be that Meghan, finding that she suspected some staff of leaks to the tabloids, went to the HR dept to see if news of her visit to them and her obvious distress would somehow get known to the senior staff, and thus they would lay off their tittle tattling to journalists about everything and anything she did.


It would be a desperate and somewhat illogical move but maybe she was feeling that desperate and vulnerable. None of us know what her feelings were during those months.


It was obvious from what she said that Meghan was in a really dark place during her pregnancy, something surely that is deserving of sympathy.

I have a great deal of sympathy for what Meghan went through and hope that she is in a better place, although she seems quite angry and bitter. Unfortunately, that can be a symptom of depression. I hope she can find peace and rest.

Harry seems to have also suffered from depression at that time, it was even noted as late as October 2019 while on the Africa tour.

Perhaps he too was floundering for a while, not knowing what to do for the best, or who to contact without the vile tabloids getting hold of it. And I can imagine the meal they all would have made of that bit of news.

Possible, but neither of them said that Harry was floundering at that time. It is hard to know how to help another person who is deeply depressed - Charles faced the same struggles with Diana - but that is part of being married. As other have pointed out, Harry has had similar issues and knows how the system works. Harry admitted that he was embarrassed to go to his family - which I can understand but not to the point that he didn't help his wife when he recognized she was suffering. The only excuse he would have is if he couldn't handle his own affairs, which I haven't seen any evidence of.

I find it very strange that she went to HR but never talked to Harry about being hospitalized or not being left alone. As long as we are speculating, it's also possible that she did talk to Harry and he was more concerned about being embarrassed (as he admitted he was) than getting her help.

The accusation is very serious and needs further investigation.

It might be helpful to conduct a review to evaluate whether they should develop a policy to allow HR to help family members, but I think that in this case, the HR people were between a rock and a hard place. Our initial reaction may be that the person she spoke with should have reported it to someone and helped her. But in my organization, these types of calls are very confidential. It's not just that Meghan's request may have been leaked to the media but also that palace employees may be deterred from asking for help because of fears that the request wouldn't be kept confidential.

 

[Erin9]

She does seem to ramble incoherently... and says a lot of things that dont make any sense...

She seems pretty capable of being articulate when she wants to be. So....I’m thinking she did this on purpose.

 

[Kellydofc]

I really would have liked more information about the request for help - what she asked for and who she asked it to
For example - was this to a doctor, the royal family or a staff member, did she till them her condition and that she needed a hospital or did she say I need a break or a leave of absence. Did she say mental institution or Santa Barbara Spar

If it was a doctor he is in serious trouble - but I don't think it was. I think she ask a member of staff - possible for PA.

My guess is that she told a member of staff, not a doctor, that she wanted to go to a spa like place out of the UK and was told the logistics for that would be incredibly complicated and it would be better for her to see someone how could come to the palace. We also don't know by the way if Meghan told this person she was suicidal or that she was feeling depressed or blue or stressed. Their answer might have some bearing on what she told them in the first place and their feeling that it would be better handled "in house".

I still highly doubt anyone flat out told her she just could not receive any help at all. I do believe she might have been told that getting the specific help she wanted would be difficult or impractical. I can also see how she could have taken this and run with it. I do believe what the doctor said on Irish tv that H&M got stuck in a cycle with one another and shutting everyone else out. Sadly I don't see that ending any time soon.

 

[SLV]

Lol, ours has 17? verses, but we only ever sing the first ( and rarily the 6th).
Still, while I don't know the lyrics to the British anthem (something with God safe the Queen repeatedly), I do immediately recognise the music. Just as I do the US, French or German anthems. Plenty of sportsevents to get familiar with the music.

That's like the American National Anthem, my guess is most people don't know there are three verses. We sure as heck never sing them.