LONDON, March 5 — Meghan Markle has accused the British royal family of peddling lies against herself and her husband Prince Harry, in an escalating transatlantic war of words before a tell-all interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.
The explosive claim is the latest salvo in an increasingly heated public relations battle between the British institution and the US-based couple.
Harry and Meghan, who married in a fairytale wedding in 2018, stepped down from frontline royal duties last year, in part blaming media intrusion for their decision to move to North America.
But a steady drip of stories in Britain about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they are formally known — and tit-for-tat responses — is becoming a torrent as the broadcast approaches this weekend.
The new clip released by US broadcaster CBS came just hours after Buckingham Palace said it was probing claims that Meghan had bullied royal household staff during her time in Britain.
“I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent if there’s an active role that ‘The Firm’ (royal family) is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” she told Winfrey.
Battle for public sympathy
Buckingham Palace said it would not respond to Meghan’s latest comments, and instead focused on publicising the 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth II’s daily engagements.
But there was a predictable frenzy in the British media.
Veteran royal commentator Richard Kay likened the row to the “War of the Waleses” in the 1990s when the marriage of Harry’s parents crumbled.
Heir-to-the-throne Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Diana, princess of Wales, gave unprecedented television interviews that lifted the lid on their troubled relationship — and extra-marital affairs.
Their “bitter and acrimonious battle for public sympathy” was similar to that of Harry and Meghan, he wrote in the Daily Mail.
Royal expert Victoria Murphy told AFP the interview put the popularity of the monarchy on the line.
But she said the row had gone beyond criticism of the institution — and could burn any personal bridges Harry and Meghan still have.
“There’s only so much you can separate the individuals and the people from their roles and the positions that they have within “The Firm”, and if you’re attacking one, then you’re also attacking the other,” she added.
But Omid Scobie, royal editor of Harper’s Bazaar US, and co-author of a sympathetic biography of Harry and Meghan, “Finding Freedom”, said it was merely a chance for them to tell their side of the story.
Meghan, a mixed-race former television actress, was likely to address her claims that she faced racism in the British press and on social media, as well as their “troubles” in the monarchy itself, he added.
But he said the “noise” before the event would die down.
“In the end it ends up being OK and I think that that’ll be exactly the same with this Oprah special,” he added.
There have been calls for the couple’s interview, due to be broadcast in the United States on Sunday, and in Britain early Monday, to be rescheduled.
Harry’s grandfather, the queen’s husband Prince Philip, 99, has been in hospital for more than two weeks, and on Wednesday underwent a procedure on a pre-existing heart condition.
Others called it “inappropriate” but British media quoted a source close to Harry and Meghan as saying the broadcast would still go ahead and they had no say in the matter.
“The programming and all the rest of it is ultimately up to CBS,” they added.
‘History repeating itself’
Harry and Meghan’s acrimonious split from the royal family was made permanent last month, when the queen removed their honorary titles and patronages.
That followed nearly 12 months in which both sides have tried to control the narrative of their departure, which has polarised opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.
Harry, 36, said in a clip of the Winfrey interview released earlier this week that he feared “history repeating itself” had they stayed, in a reference to the press hounding of his mother.
Diana died in a high-speed car crash while being chased by paparazzi photographers in Paris in August 1997.
The bullying allegations, first reported in The Times newspaper on Wednesday, however, step up the war of words, with some commentators likening it to the constitutional crisis of 1936.
Then, king Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, who like Meghan was an American divorcee.
Meghan, who is 39 and pregnant with the couple’s second child, said the latest claims against her were a character assassination, and an attempt to “peddle a wholly false narrative” before the Winfrey interview is broadcast. — AFP
Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview to define future royal relations
Focus Britain | US | royals | Harry | Meghan | interview associated with x x
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Thursday 3/5/2021 — 02:01 UTC+8 | 776 words
by Joe JACKSON
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s potentially bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey this weekend could shape the couple’s future relations with the British royal family, experts say.
The pair’s relationship with the centuries-old institution has turned increasingly acrimonious since they stepped back from the royal frontline last year.
Meghan, 39, is expected to share grievances about her treatment by the monarchy and the media, including allegations of racism, and has accused royals of “perpetuating falsehoods” about her.
The interview was filmed weeks ago but pre-broadcast clips of her comments were made available just hours after the Palace took the unusual step of confirming it would investigate newspaper claims Meghan had bullied royal staff.
The escalating war of words has fuelled fears that already frayed ties could snap completely, with every word, look and gesture likely to be picked over in endless detail.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said it was “short-sighted” of Harry and Meghan not to inform the monarchy of the decision to talk to Winfrey.
That left it “blindsided” and “will almost certainly cause the royal family embarrassment”, he told AFP.
“We know the press and probably courtiers are likely to be excoriated.
“However, if they get personal and criticise other members of the royal family, it will define their relationship with them for the foreseeable future.”
‘Never complain, never explain’ -
Buckingham Palace announced last month that the couple had permanently ended royal duties, a year after their shock announcement to “step back” from their roles.
Since relocating to the United States — in a move dubbed “Megxit” by the British press — they have embarked on several lucrative commercial ventures alongside continuing charitable work.
The Oprah interview has echoes of the explosive 1995 tell-all by Harry’s late mother princess Diana in which she candidly discussed her failing marriage to Prince Charles and their infidelities.
Publicly discussing private matters jars with Queen Elizabeth II’s purported mantra “never complain, never explain”, to keep the royals’ unique place in British society.
Harry and Meghan are seen as media-savvy and have previously done well-received interviews but Fitzwilliams noted other family members’ rare media sit-downs have been “catastrophes”.
The queen’s second son Prince Andrew resigned from royal duties shortly after he defended his friendship with the late US financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a disastrous 2019 interview.
Harry’s father Prince Charles fared badly in a 1994 tell-all in which he admitted to committing adultery.
In contrast, Diana’s interview — watched by a record 22.8 million people — was widely seen as garnering her public sympathy.
Harry — sixth in line to the throne — and Meghan’s popularity in Britain has fallen steadily over the last three years and remains well below that of the queen, according to polling.
Omid Scobie, co-author of last year’s best-selling biography on the couple, “Finding Freedom”, said it was unlikely confiding in Oprah would change many minds.
Britons “have already picked their camp at this point”, he said.
But he predicted audiences could “at least come out of it a little bit more enlightened” as to why they left.
“This will be a place for them to share their side of the story and given that we... have spent the last three years talking about it, I’d say it’s only fair that they have a couple of hours to do the same,” he added.
‘Bad timing’ -
Harry, 36, has blamed press intrusion for contributing to his mother death in 1997 and told Oprah he and Meghan quit Britain in part because he was worried about “history repeating itself”.
But the timing of the broadcast, shot at their sprawling Montecito mansion in California, is awkward.
The prime time outing airs on the same day the queen and other senior royals appear on television as part of Commonwealth Day celebrations.
More problematically, the queen’s 99-year-old husband, Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip, has been in hospital for nearly three weeks and is recovering from a successful heart procedure.
Fitzwilliams said that should have prompted Harry and Meghan to ask Winfrey — a personal friend who attended their wedding — to pressure CBS to delay.
“It would be appropriate, despite the difficulties this would cause, for this interview to be postponed,” he said.
But royal expert Penny Junor told the BBC it was “just bad timing” and that a delay was highly unlikely.
“Is there ever going to be a perfect time to show... a documentary like this?” she asked. “I’m not sure there is.”
jj/phz/har
© Agence France-Presse
Prince Harry: royal misfit now taking on ‘The Firm’
Profile Britain | royals | Harry associated with x
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Thursday 3/5/2021 — 01:40 UTC+8 | 724 words
by James PHEBY
Scarred by the death of his mother, Prince Harry has struggled in the royal limelight for much of his life, and his fears for wife Meghan have now put him at loggerheads with his family.
The younger son of the heir to the throne Prince Charles and the late Diana, princess of Wales, Harry, now 36, earned a reputation as a young playboy desperate to escape the royal straightjacket.
Having left his wild-child ways behind him, the prince appeared to have found his place in the family with Meghan and son Archie.
But it proved to be a temporary respite from the forces that he still blames for Diana’s death.
Harry and Meghan last year made the bombshell announcement they were giving up front-line royal duties, despairing after repeated battles with the intrusive British media and fallouts behind the palace walls.
The couple relocated to Meghan’s native California after a stay in Canada, and now rub shoulders with Hollywood A-Listers in leafy Santa Barbara.
They have scored lucrative commercial deals with Spotify and Netflix and recently announced they are expecting their second child.
But a year on from the split, the relationship with his family has soured even further with senior royals angry about a “tell-all” interview the couple gave to US chat show icon Oprah Winfrey.
In a preview clip, Meghan told Winfrey “there is an active role that ‘The Firm’ is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” in reference to the royal family’s inner circle.
The palace stripped Harry of all of his honorary titles and has launched a probe into allegations that Meghan bullied royal staff.
Close to ‘complete breakdown’ -
Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales was born on September 15, 1984, the “spare” to his brother William, who is one day set to inherit the throne.
Both educated at the elite Eton school, their childhood was dominated by the messy breakdown of their parents’ marriage and Diana’s tragic death in 1997.
The young princes walking behind her coffin — Harry only 12, his brother 15 — was one of the most enduring images of Diana’s funeral.
“Losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but also my work as well,” Harry said.
He caused outrage in 2005 when photographs of him in a Nazi Afrika Korps fancy dress outfit made front-page news.
That was the year he entered the army, a move he later admitted “was the best escape I’ve ever had” from the constant public attention.
After tours of Afghanistan, he left the armed forces in 2015 and began to focus on royal duties, rebuilding his reputation through charity work with wounded veterans and advocacy for mental health, an issue close to his heart.
Harry has said that Diana is always in his thoughts, and he has championed many of her charitable causes, including taking an HIV test to raise awareness.
But he has revealed that for a long time he struggled to cope with his mother’s death in a Paris car crash, and sought professional help a few years ago.
In a remarkably candid interview, the prince once admitted he came “very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions”.
Media war -
A happier chapter in his life began in July 2016, when he met Meghan Markle, a mixed-race US television actress, on a blind date set up by a mutual friend.
Both were quickly lovestruck and bonded over their mutual interest in good causes, including his Invictus Games, a sports championships for wounded military personnel.
Harry and Meghan married at Saint George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, raising hopes of a more modern, diverse chapter in the royal story.
But they were increasingly on the receiving end of negative headlines alleging demanding behaviour from Meghan and a rift with William that he later did not deny.
Meghan recently won a huge victory over the media, successfully suing The Mail on Sunday for invasion of privacy over the publication of a letter from her to her estranged father.
It was the latest chapter in Harry’s war with the tabloid press, which he has accused of peddling falsehoods and even racism against his wife.
Asked if Meghan was facing the same media pressures as Diana, Harry replied: “I have a family to protect.
“I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mum.”
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© Agence France-Presse
