Oprah's interview with Harry and Meghan is 'the best she's ever done'

Battle of the Sussex sit-downs: Oprah boasts her bombshell interview with Harry and Meghan is ‘the best she has ever done’ according to best pal Gayle King, hours after the prince’s no-holds-barred chat with James Corden

Gayle, 66, is one of Oprah’s closest friends, and is also an anchor for CBS – the network that airs Corden’s show and will air the TV mogul’s interview
The 90-minute primetime sit-down between Oprah, 67, Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, is due to air on March 7
Gayle already revealed Oprah was given permission to ‘ask anything she wanted’ of the couple, who are said to have taped the interview on February 17 and 18
The claim about this sit-down being ‘the best Oprah has ever done’ comes just hours after Harry chatted with long-time friend Corden on the Late Late Show
During the interview, the Duke of Sussex blamed the ‘toxic’ British media for his decision to quit the royal family and relocate to the US
He also spoke about Netflix’s The Crown; Harry, who boasts a lucrative deal with the streaming site, defended the show, despite its negative view of the royals
Gayle’s tease about Oprah’s interview seems to be an attempt to refocus energy on her friend’s sit-down amid huge public interest in the Corden sit-down
The Oprah interview has sparked furious controversy and upset, particularly after it was revealed that Harry had not told the Queen about it in advance
It is likely to have raised fears for Buckingham Palace over what embarrassing revelations could come to light, especially in light of Megxit being finalized

Oprah Winfrey says her interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is ‘the best she has ever done’, her best friend Gayle King revealed in a thinly-veiled attempt to claw back public interest in the sit-down amid intense coverage of the Duke’s appearance on James Corden’s Late Late Show.

According to Gayle, 66, who is an anchor for CBS, the network that broadcasts Corden’s show, and will air Oprah’s primetime interview with Meghan and Harry next month, made the comments on This Morning on Friday, while reporting on the Duke of Sussex’s Late Late Show segment.

After detailing the many revelations shared during the interview with Corden – which took place in Los Angeles before Oprah’s sit-down with Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, was filmed – Gayle reminded viewers about her friend’s own chat with the Sussexes, saying: ‘We want to remind you that Harry and Meghan are talking to Oprah.

‘It’s their first major broadcast interview since giving up their senior royal duties.’

After detailing the date and time of the broadcast, Gayle continued: ‘I’ve heard from reliable sources, this is Oprah talking, that it’s the best interview she’s ever done so I’m curious. That’s saying something.’

Teaser: Oprah says her interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is the ‘best she has ever done’, her close friend Gayle King revealed on Friday morning

Promotion: The 67-year-old TV mogul’s primetime sit-down with the couple is due to air on March 7 on CBS – the same network that Gayle, 66, is an anchor for

Let the battle commence: Gayle’s comments about Oprah’s interview were made just hours after James Corden’s sit-down with Prince Harry aired on CBS

It is the second on-air promotion that Gayle has done for her long-time pal – having already revealed on February 16 that Oprah had been given permission to ask Harry and Meghan ‘anything she wanted’ and that ‘nothing was off limits’ during the interview.

The news likely sparked fresh fears for Buckingham Palace over what embarrassing revelations could come to light – particularly in the wake of the Queen’s decision to remove the couple’s remaining royal patronages and honorary titles, a move that prompted the Sussexes to bite back in a petty public statement.

‘This is a big deal,’ Gayle said last Wednesday – one day before Harry and Meghan reportedly began taping their two-day interview with Oprah.

‘I know Oprah has been working on the questions all weekend long, I’m told that nothing is off limits. She can ask anything she wants.’

The insight into the no-holds-barred interview has prompted further questions about why Harry and Meghan have chosen to take part in such an explosive sit-down, in spite of their continued insistence that the media respects their privacy.

Those same questions arose after Harry’s interview with Corden aired – while critics also outrage over his decision to defend Netflix show The Crown, despite its very negative portrayal of his grandmother, parents, and wider members of the royal family.

Harry, who, along with his wife, inked a very lucrative deal with Netflix last year, told long-time friend Corden that he has watched The Crown, and said that the show is ‘fictional’ but ‘loosely based on the truth’ and captures the feeling of being expected to put ‘duty and service above family and everything else’.

Royal insiders were left stunned when Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah was announced on Monday – with one source telling the Daily Mail that the sit-down will likely prompt the royal family to sever all remaining ties with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

According to the source, the Queen is set to ask the couple to relinquish all of their remaining patronages in light of the news, which would see Harry stripped of three honorary military titles and, potentially, his patronages with the Rugby Football Union, Rugby Football League, and the London Marathon.

ROYAL AUTHOR: INTERVIEW IS A ‘BETRAYAL OF TRUST’

Royal author Robert Jobson said he thought the interview was a ‘betrayal of trust’ and Meghan and Harry ‘seem hell bent on causing the Queen more discomfort and possible embarrassment’.

‘Buckingham Palace were quick to say the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles and the rest of the family wished the couple well on the news. They were apparently told about the baby bump before Harry and Meghan went public,’ he said.

‘But now, just after smoothing over the cracks caused by ”Megxit’ – just over a year ago – the Sussexes seem hell bent on causing the Queen more discomfort and possible embarrassment.

‘Given the way the media focus on such royal interviews, one word out of place will be jumped on to confirm on-going feuds in the Royal Family.

‘If Harry or Meghan talk openly about the fall-out with William and Kate it will cause uproar. If they don’t even mention them, it will be seen as a snub to his brother or just another silky PR exercise – something their friend and interrogator Oprah Winfrey won’t like.

‘Sources in the royal household say ”Megxit” is not talked about by senior royals. ”It is a subject the family want to move on from,” one senior figure told me.

‘But how can anyone move on when Meghan and Harry continue to drone on about the difficulties of royal life and being part of the Royal Family.

‘This interview is a betrayal of trust whatever way you look at it. Harry, who claimed he wanted to escape the publicity of being a front-line royal, has swapped duty for a cash bonanza deal with Netflix. We are not told if money has been paid for this interview.

‘The army veteran, who serviced with distinction in Afghanistan, often talks about respecting the Queen.

‘But to be blunt his decision to join his wife’s tell all on US television interview after they exited the Royal Family so noisily and dramatically, is another act of disrespect.

‘The Queen has always lived by the mantra of ”never complain and never explain”. With her husband’s 100th birthday celebrations approaching the Harry and Meghan loose cannon continues to fire.’

Meghan meanwhile would have to step down as patron of the National Theatre. When the former actress was handed the role in 2019, it was seen as a major gesture of support from the Queen who had herself been a patron of the London institution for 45 years.

The tell-all special, entitled ‘Oprah with Meghan and Harry’, is set to air on US network CBS on March 7, and will focus primarily on the Duchess of Sussex who will discuss ‘everything from stepping into life as a Royal, marriage, motherhood, philanthropic work to how she is handling life under intense public pressure’.

Prince Harry will then join his wife in front of the camera, and the two will open up about their decision to move to the US following Megxit, and their ‘hopes and dreams for their expanding family’, a CBS spokesperson revealed.

News of the interview no doubt sent tremors through the Palace – sparking fears that bombshell details of Harry’s reported rift with members of the Royal Family including his brother Prince William could be aired for the world.

It would also be Harry’s first opportunity to publicly discuss the Megxit summit with the Queen that he called as his bitter split from royal life unfolded.

The meeting could become one among a series of TV chats that have rocked Buckingham Palace to its core, along with Prince Andrew’s 2019 interview with Newsnight and Princess Diana’s bombshell 1995 interview with Panorama.

It was not immediately clear who will air the interview in the UK.

The interview is the latest in a line of carefully planned publicity moves from the couple and the announcement comes less than 24 hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they are expecting their second child.

If Meghan and Harry’s decision to record an interview will be seen as surprising, their choice of Oprah is not given their close friendship with the TV host, who was a guest at their 2018 wedding in London, and now lives just a short distance from the couple’s $14.5 million Montecito mansion.

In December, the TV mogul made clear her close relationship with the couple when she promoted Meghan’s new range of vegan coffee in an Instagram post that is estimated to have been worth $1 million in free publicity.

However, their decision to take part in such an ‘intimate’ interview is certainly at odds with the couple’s ongoing insistence that they wish to maintain complete privacy.

The Palace said they would not be formally commenting.

But a source said that the Duke and Duchess were no longer working members of the Royal Family and therefore any decisions they take with regard to media commitments were matters for them and they had no obligation to inform the Royal Household of such plans.

Phil Dampier, who has been writing about the royals for 35 years and is author of Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan In Their Own Words, told MailOnline news of the interview would the the ‘last thing the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family will want to hear at the moment’.

Opening up: According to CBS the couple will open up about a number of sensitive topics, including Meghan’s entry into the Royal Family, and their decision to quit royal life for the US

He added: ‘The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William will be bracing themselves for a series of accusations and revelations, as will Buckingham Palace courtiers.

‘And the sad truth at present is that Harry and Meghan, buoyed up by recent legal victories against the press, feel they have the upper hand.

ROYAL INTERVIEWS THAT SHOOK THE PALACE

In late 2019 Prince Andrew gave a ‘no holds barred’ interview with the BBC ‘s Emily Maitlis about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, along with claims the royal had sex with one of the billionaire paedophile’s young ‘slaves’.

‘Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal’ was filmed at Buckingham Palace – a sign it had Her Majesty’s approval – and was the first time the duke was grilled on his friendship with the American sexual abuser, who was found dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking.

Andrew – the Queen’s second son – stepped down from public life on November 20 2019, following the fallout from his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Epstein.

The duke was criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards the paedophile’s victims and a lack of remorse over his friendship with the pervert.

In the interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis, the duke denied claims that he slept with Virginia Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein, on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law.

Decades earlier, in a sensational 1995 Panorama interview, Princess Diana said there were ‘three people in my marriage’, a reference to her estranged husband’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, now Duchess of Cornwall.

No one and nothing was off limits; Diana didn’t even spare her own reputation. In one gripping exchange with Mr Bashir, she admitted she had been unfaithful with Army officer James Hewitt.

‘Yes, I adored him,’ she said. ‘Yes, I was in love with him.’

For Prince Charles the examination was excoriating as his estranged, but not yet divorced, wife questioned his credentials to be king, while publicly placing Camilla Parker Bowles front and centre as the reason their marriage broke down.

‘There is little anyone can do stop them but history tells us that royal interviews – be they Diana’s Panorama, Charles’s admission of adultery to Jonathan Dimbleby or Prince Andrew’s Newsnight clash with Emily Maitlis, normally end in tears.

‘Whether justified or not, the fear will be that the couple claim Meghan was not welcomed into the Royal Family, experienced a degree of racism, and was hounded by the British tabloids.’

Royal author Robert Jobson said he thought the interview was a ‘betrayal of trust’ and Meghan and Harry ‘seem hell bent on causing the Queen more discomfort and possible embarrassment’.

‘But now, just after smoothing over the cracks caused by ”Megxit’ – just over a year ago – the Sussexes seem hell bent on causing the Queen more discomfort and possible embarrassment.’

He added: ‘This interview is a betrayal of trust whatever way you look at it. Harry, who claimed he wanted to escape the publicity of being a front-line royal, has swapped duty for a cash bonanza deal with Netflix. We are not told if money has been paid for this interview.

‘The army veteran, who served with distinction in Afghanistan, often talks about respecting the Queen.

‘But to be blunt his decision to join his wife’s tell all US television interview after they exited the Royal Family so noisily and dramatically, is another act of disrespect.

What is clear is that this interview will likely be the couple’s most candid yet, with a statement from CBS promising that Meghan and Harry will open up about a variety of hot-button topics – perhaps most significantly their exit from the Royal Family in January 2020, and the Duchess’s views on what it was like to ‘step into royal life’.

‘Winfrey will speak with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, in a wide-ranging interview, covering everything from stepping into life as a Royal, marriage, motherhood, philanthropic work to how she is handling life under intense public pressure,’ a CBS press release revealed.

‘Later, the two are joined by Prince Harry as they speak about their move to the United States and their future hopes and dreams for their expanding family.’

The interview will be the first time that either Meghan or Harry have addressed Megxit directly in a public forum; thus far the couple have remained silent about their reasons for leaving the Royal Family – despite both waxing lyrical about their new life in Los Angeles during several public appearances.

Meghan’s decision to discuss her experiences of royal life may also be cause for concern from the Queen and her aides, particularly given that the Duchess has already stated in court documents that she felt ‘unprotected by the [royal] institution’ during her pregnancy – and claimed that she was ‘prohibited from defending herself’ against stories published in the media.

The choice to broadcast the interview on CBS is surprising, given that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex inked a very lucrative deal with Netflix just last year in a move that is believed to have earned the couple up to $150 million.

Guest role? It is not yet known whether the couple’s son, Archie, will make an appearance during the interview, and CBS refused to comment on any other details about the sit-down

Their partnership with Netflix sparked furious controversy – and further questions about the legitimacy of their pleas for privacy – particularly given that the streaming site is responsible for The Crown, which delved into the very private life of Harry’s mother Princess Diana in its most recent season.

HOW DOES MEGHAN KNOW OPRAH?

Oprah was friends with Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39 (as well as Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland) before their move to the US, and attended their royal wedding in May 2018.

However they appear to have grown considerably closer over the past 12 months, with Oprah proving herself a generous friend, gifting story books to their son Archie and organising for her friend Tyler Perry to let them stay in his Beverly Hills mansion while they found their feet across the pond.

Oprah had met Meghan just once before her royal wedding to Prince Harry, but has reportedly since played the role of a mentor to the duchess.

Discussion of a possible interview had taken place before Harry and Meghan gave up their positions as working royals, according to The Times.

It has been reported that Oprah got in touch with Meghan in 2018 through CBS, and after a phone conversation the American chat show host was invited to meet Meghan at Kensington Palace before the royal wedding.

In 2020 it had become an ‘open secret’ among palace circles that Meghan had agreed to the idea of an interview, reports say.

And last year it was claimed that Oprah had helped advise Meghan and Harry on leaving their posts as senior members of the Royal Family – but she denied this.

In April 2019, the Duke of Sussex announced a partnership with media mogul Oprah as co-creators and executive producers of a new mental health documentary series for Apple.

The pair had reportedly worked on it for ‘several months’ during a number of ‘secret meetings in London’ – however it emerged this week that Covid-19 restrictions, Harry’s exit from the Royal Family and move to the US with Meghan Markle has ‘stalled’ production.

Meghan has gifted Oprah a bundle of coffee from a company she invested in to plug to her 19.2 million followers on Instagram.

Oprah captioned the post: ‘On the first day of Christmas my neighbor ‘M’ sent to me… A basket of deliciousness! (Yes that M).’

It later emerged that the Duchess has decided to invest in Clevr Blends as she begins to build a portfolio of startup investments – her first such venture since officially stepping back from royal duties.

PR guru Mark Borkowski told MailOnline that Oprah’s endorsement was worth at least $1million and is probably the most valuable piece of free publicity in history.

Although the fourth season of the show did not premiere until several weeks after Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal was revealed to the public, it had already been widely publicized that it would cover Diana’s heartbreaking battle with bulimia in great detail, as well as her turbulent relationship with Prince Charles.

It is understood that such a public and dramatized depiction of such a private matter caused great ‘discomfort’ for Prince William, and many other senior members of the Royal Family, with one source revealing in September last year that Harry’s partnership with Netflix had created yet further tension between him and his brother.

‘William and other senior royals are incredibly uncomfortable about this drama and livid Harry is now in partnership with the company that’s airing it,’ the insider told The Sun.

Details of the couple’s Netflix partnership were kept closely guarded, with the streaming site only revealing that the deal included a wide range of content, from documentaries and children’s programming to feature films.

Oprah also boasts her own multi-year streaming partnership with Apple TV+, on which she recently streamed an interview with former President Barack Obama.

Harry and Meghan have mirrored many of the Obamas’ post-White House deals, following in their footsteps by inking multi-million-dollar deals first with Netflix and then with Spotify, just as the former President and First Lady had already done.

It is unclear whether the interview has already been filmed, or it location; a CBS spokesperson refused to comment, telling DailyMail.com: ‘We have no further information at this time.’

The network has also not revealed whether Harry and Meghan’s son Archie will make an appearance during the 90-minute interview.

Harry and Meghan’s sit down chat with the famous broadcaster will be aired on March 7, just a few weeks from the one-year anniversary of the couple ending their roles as senior royals.

Winfrey is a personal friend of Meghan and attended her royal wedding in May 2018, and there was speculation at the time the couple were likely to be interviewed by the celebrity.

The global chat show star has welcomed everyone from Tom Cruise and Madonna to former president Barack Obama to sit down and discuss their lives.

The last royal television interview aimed at setting the record straight failed spectacularly when the Duke of York appeared on a special edition of the BBC’s Newsnight.

Andrew’s attempt to explain his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein led to him withdrawing from public life after he was accused of lacking empathy for Epstein’s victims.

His ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York was interviewed by Winfrey in 2010 after she was left humiliated by a newspaper sting that caught her offering to sell access to Andrew for £500,000.

She repeatedly talked about herself in the third person and also broke down in tears during the confessional interview.

It is not known if Harry and Meghan informed the royal household in the UK about their plans to be interviewed, but as non-working members of the monarchy they do not have to give notice of their media commitments.

PHIL DAMPIER: ROYALS ARE ‘BRACING THEMSELVES’

He added: ‘Like everyone else they are looking forward to the end of lockdown and better times ahead but this brings into sharp focus that the problems of ”Megxit” haven’t gone away.

‘The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William will be bracing themselves for a series of accusations and revelations, as will Buckingham Palace courtiers.

‘And the sad truth at present is that Harry and Meghan, buoyed up by recent legal victories against the press, feel they have the upper hand.

‘Whether justified or not, the fear will be that the couple claim Meghan was not welcomed into the Royal Family, experienced a degree of racism, and was hounded by the British tabloids.

‘She might say she was shocked when Princess Michael wore a ”racist” brooch depicting a black figure to a royal Christmas lunch.

‘She might claim she wasn’t supported when the row with her father exploded.

‘And she has already stated that no-one asked he if she was coping with life in the royal spotlight.

‘Harry has already talked about his relationship with his brother Prince William, telling ITN’s Tom Bradby after their South African tour in 2019 that they were on different paths.

‘He resented it when William asked him right at the start of Meghan’s arrival if he wasn’t rushing into the relationship and should take more time to decide if she was the right girl.

‘And we all saw the body language between the so-called ”Fab Four” of William and Kate and Harry and Meghan when they were seated near each other at the Commonwealth Day Service just before the couple quit for the States.

‘Instead of building bridges and calming the undoubted rifts down, there must be concern the ‘Fright of the Oprah’ will make things worse.

‘Harry is expected to travel to the UK in the coming months, either for the Queen’s 95th birthday in April, Prince Philip’s 100th in June, Trooping the Colour (If it goes ahead) and for the unveiling of a statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace.

‘We will all be watching William and Harry to see how they get on, but royal rictus grins will be obvious, and if Harry flies home without patching things up with his brother they may never heal.

‘I don’t expect Meghan to travel to the UK anytime soon, especially as she is expecting again, and being pregnant gives her the perfect excuse not to come.

‘If the couple criticise the Queen, Charles and Camilla or William and Kate directly, it will be tragic.

‘The royals have played a blinder during the pandemic and are more popular than ever, while Harry and Meghan, who may have a following in America, are no longer a golden couple in the eyes of the British public.

‘The Queen is reluctant to strip them of they royal titles, and desperately wants to keep a lid on any family feuds, but this interview could be a make or break moment.’

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