How far will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle go after a week of revelations about the British Royal Family in their highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey?
Millions of people will tune in to CBS Sunday night to find out.
If the interview’s comments give any indication, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have bills to pay with Buckingham Palace just over a year after they gave up their royal duties and moved to Southern California.
In one, Meghan, a former television actress who is pregnant with her second child, referred to the royal family as “the firm,” an internal nickname she used when she accused her of telling “untruths” about the couple.
Meghan, 39, is facing an internal palace investigation into allegations that she harassed Royal Household staff during her stay in Britain.
According to The Times, former employees say the allegations date back to October 2018, a few months after the couple’s wedding.
“Let’s call this what it is: a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful information,” said a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan.
“It is no coincidence that the twisted allegations of several years ago aimed at undermining the Duchess reached the British media shortly before she and the Duke spoke openly and honestly about their experiences over the years,” she added. referring to the interview being broadcast on Sunday evening (Monday 1am GMT).
The couple have often said they left the UK to get away from the British media., but they also accounted for their discontent as members of the royal family.
– A ‘circus’ – The British monarchy, for its part, has decided to face the threat of this interview by presenting the image of a united family at the annual Commonwealth celebrations in a television program to be broadcast at 5:00 PM GMT . several hours before the intervention of the couple.
“The ghost of the queen is on duty and Felipe,” says her husband, who has been hospitalized for three weeks, in the headline of the Sunday Express.
According to a source close to the Queen quoted by the newspaper, Elizabeth II will not see her grandson’s interview and will be more in the media next week to show that the monarchy is “focused on important issues.”
The outlet also reports that court members, who have not hesitated to call the interview a “circus,” are preparing to retaliate “with new revelations” about the couple’s behavior if the monarchy is under attack.
However, in the opinion of many royal experts, neither Meghan nor Harry should directly attack members of the royal family during the two-hour show, as the prince has a strong emotional bond with his grandmother.
However, they could be very critical of the British press, which was also not friendly to them in the headlines on Sunday.
– History repeats itself – “My main concern was that history would repeat itself,” Enrique told Oprah Winfrey in another preview of the interview.
The crisis is reminiscent of the divorce of Henry’s parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and of a famous interview the latter gave to the BBC in 1995, in which she admitted to cheating on her husband with army officer James Hewitt.
He thus alluded to the death of his mother along with his then partner Dodi al Fayed in a car accident in Paris in 1997, when the driver of his car tried to escape persecution of the paparazzi.
In another episode of the transatlantic drama leading up to the talk with Winfrey, the Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that a foundation the couple set up in July and subsequently dissolved is under investigation.
He also published an article criticizing Meghan, who he describes as stubborn, calculating and spoiled.
After confirming to Queen Elizabeth that they would not resume their royal duties after a one-year evaluation period, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex lost their last royal patronage and military titles last month.
From the UK they moved to Canada and then to California. They first lived in Los Angeles and since July have lived in Montecito, a small and prosperous coastal city.
They have tried to portray themselves as a modern couple dealing with humanitarian issues, in a country where public opinion is much more favorable to them than in Britain.
When many Royal Family analysts called the couple reckless and selfish, some in the United States saw signs of racism towards Markle, who is of mixed race.
Since arriving in the United States, Enrique and Meghan have formed a charity called Archewell and signed an agreement with Netflix to produce documentaries, feature films, children’s shows and other content.
In addition, they collaborated with Apple TV + in collaboration with Winfrey, queen of talk shows die According to The Wall Street Journal, the copy sold to the Dukes of Sussex to CBS for between $ 7 million and $ 9 million.
Winfrey nonetheless retained international rights to the juicy talk.