Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and former actress Meghan Markle is not scheduled to air in Britain until Monday night, but that did not stop the British commentator from taking a breath after watching clips and read about it.
The monarchists expressed polite dismay, while the notorious British tabloids were livid – hardly a surprise, since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were vocal in blaming them for being intrusive, lying and totally racist. The palace itself is keeping silent.
In the interview, Harry and Meghan were outspoken in their description of an insensitive palatial machine that provided little support for a newcomer to the royal family and the cracks that opened up, particularly between Harry and his father, Prince Charles, the heir to the royal family. throne.
A sample of the reaction so far:
“It was a very mild and soapy interview in favor of Meghan,” said royal biographer Anna Pasternak to the BBC. “Nobody asked her about her relationship with her father. Nobody asked her [about] the surprising fact that she only had one member of her family at her wedding. This is a woman who seems to have a habit of fighting people. But no real behavior from Meghan was questioned. It was an absolute exercise in burning down the House of Windsor. “
“They destroyed everything the Queen worked so hard for, and should we believe that they are compassionate?” Piers Morgan said in “Good Morning Britain”. He declared himself “disgusted” while watching the interview, but apparently has recovered enough to tweet: “I expect all of this vile and destructive self-service nonsense from Meghan Markle – but for Harry to let her bring down her family and the Monarchy, it’s shameful . “
A column in the Sun tabloid, which claims that palace officials dubbed the interview “Moperah” because of all the complaints, called the interview “the biggest theatrical performance of [Meghan’s] Trevor Kavanaugh, the newspaper’s former political editor – who made his name by presenting topless women every day on page 3 – says the British public will not be influenced by the “hypocrisy of a couple that destroys the royal family while warming up like billionaires in the California sunshine, enriching themselves beyond the dreams of avarice. ”
Robert Hardman, who covers the royal family for the Daily Mail, told BBC radio: “I’m not sure what the ultimate goal was, whether it was to clear the air or settle some accounts. It certainly didn’t clear the air. When trying to establish a set of truths, I think it will obviously attract a lot of questions that people will want to answer. … Much of this is just a family with the kind of ranks that families have, but obviously on a much larger scale, because we are talking about the royal family. “
London Times columnist Clare Foges said Harry and Meghan should have their titles removed. “Oprah’s interview looks like the Queen of Sussex’s own sacrifice: a strategic decision to burn bridges with the British to build them with the Americans,” wrote Foges.
The anti-monarchy group República renewed its calls for Britain to abandon the royal family. “We said a year ago, when Harry and Meghan left the family, this was going to be a bad decade for royalty,” the group tweeted. “The #OprahMeghanHarry interview is devastating at a time when we are fast approaching a transition to King Charles and Prince of Wales William.”
Jennie Bond, a former BBC royal correspondent, wrote in the Daily Mirror that “this is all a personal tragedy for Prince Charles. He witnessed his children suffer the trauma of losing their mother [Princess Diana] and saw his once strong and supportive brotherly relationship crumble. It is difficult for any parent to watch a children’s fight. Seeing this happen in public must be distressing, “she added:” We have more to worry about than two very wealthy and privileged individuals complaining about their situation in life. “
Charles Anson, the Queen’s former press secretary, told the BBC’s Today radio program: “It is very difficult to marry someone from the royal family, and especially women, for brides to join the royal family. You get a new job as well as a new relationship, and the level of scrutiny is hard to believe until you actually see it. The level of scrutiny of everything they say, do, [being] commented, it is a tension in itself. “
Chu is a staff writer and Boyle a special correspondent.