Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey recently met up with two self-exiled members of British royalty, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for an open-air interview in the exclusive Montecito neighbourhood of Santa Barbara, California. The three hour and twenty-minute interview was then edited for public consumption, being cut down to a viewing time of one hour and twenty-five minutes. The broadcast version of “Oprah with Megan and Harry: CBS Primetime Special” was aired at 8pm Eastern Standard Time on Sunday 7 March 2021, and was viewed live by 17.1 million Americans before being shown in the UK, on ITV, the following evening, at 9 pm GMT.
The conversation opened up in an elegantly landscaped garden that was borrowed for the purpose from an unnamed friend of Oprah’s before moving to the royal couple’s own substantial private grounds, where rescued battery chickens could be seen wandering around a shed named “Archie’s Chick Inn. Established 2021”. Prince Harry joined Oprah and a visibly expectant Meghan later in the proceedings. The settings were idyllic and the dialogue genial, as would be expected between good friends.
The interview has now entered the public domain and Meghan and Harry’s comments are being scrutinised in great detail, word-by-word, for any nuances and hidden meanings. What is unspoken yet implied is clearly as important as the words actually used. Public opinion seems deeply divided over what they had to say. For example, a YouGov poll in the UK showed that younger people generally supported the duo, while more traditionalist older folks mostly stood firmly behind the monarchy. Some opposed the very timing of the interview, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and during Prince Philip’s illness. The announcement of a Buckingham Palace Human Resources investigation into alleged bullying behaviour by Meghan was even interpreted as a knee-jerk response to the fact that the interview would proceed irrespective.
The beleaguered couple, feeling unsupported by “The Firm”- the wider royal family and the Royal Household staff-chose to speak out, for their own reasons, in a way that has turned out to be quite damaging to Britain’s monarchy. The interview has thus been described as “explosive” and riddled with “bombshells”. Meghan’s unhappiness as a royal, after an initial period when she felt welcome, apparently came about for a number of different reasons, which she elaborated on as the interview progressed. Her unfamiliarity with long-established royal traditions and protocol, a feeling of being isolated within the establishment, her loss of personal independence, and undertones of racism in some of her interactions-including speculation about her unborn son’s likely skin colour- all made her feel uneasy. It is particularly worrying that Meghan claimed a lack of support when she was actively contemplating suicide, contrary to what would normally be expected.
The couple’s woes only intensified when Britain’s right-wing tabloid press took an active dislike to Meghan, and compared her unfavourably with her sister-in law Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. Several damaging tabloid headlines along these lines were tellingly displayed at intervals throughout the interview. According to some of Meghan’s foes, the tabloids were merely testing out her resolve and ability to cope as a royal, just as they had earlier, in the case of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Meghan was frequently depicted as being manipulative, domineering, demanding, insensitive, and entitled, along with several other damaging epithets. The royal couple also had reason to complain about alleged intrusions by tabloids into their privacy, with Prince Harry recalling similar destructive treatment of his mother before her untimely death. The tabloids were to hit back with vigour, stating that despite their protestations they were actually publicity-hungry and that they were being hypocritical when they claimed they were only seeking privacy for themselves.
Meghan and Harry are no longer working members of the royal family. They have been stripped of some of their royal titles and all of their official patronages, even though they offered to undertake some of their royal duties, albeit as part-time royals. In the eyes of some, they wanted to keep a slice of the cake, as well as eating it. Harry informed us that he had been cut off financially during the first quarter of 2020 as a result of having given up royal duties, thereby justifying the couples’ recent multi-million dollar contracts with Netflix and Spotify, Some of this money was to pay for security, following the inevitable withdrawal of their round-the-clock taxpayer-funded security detail. Meghan was particularly hurt that Archie would not be made a prince, although that title is only bestowed upon grandchildren of the ruling monarch, rather than on great-grandchildren with an exception having been made by the Queen for Prince William’s children in 2012
The broadcast appears to have touched a raw nerve within the Palace. The Queen does not normally respond directly to questions raised by television programmes. But on this occasion, given the sensitivities involved, Her Majesty has chosen to issue an anodyne 61-word statement, in which she promises a “privately” conducted investigation of Meghan’s allegations of racism by a “saddened” family. One can understand the Queen’s particular concerns, given her position as head of a multiracial Commonwealth of Nations. As the whole story has yet to be told, a fuller public response from the Palace would be reassuring in due course. Meanwhile, Meghan’s concerns over racism and her own mental health issues have resonated with many members of the public, even though the details of what went wrong remain incomplete. A growing public dissatisfaction with her alleged ill treatment has indeed contributed to Piers Morgan’s departure from his role as presenter on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, after he cast doubt on Meghan’s suicidal thoughts during the course of a no-holds-barred attack on the royal couple.
The Meghan-Harry interview has presented the British monarchy with new and unprecedented challenges. This is partly because the institution, despite its special place at the heart of the British nation, has struggled to keep up with changing times. Maybe this interview will provide yet another wake-up call for the royals. To begin with, it seems the lines of communication within the royal establishment need tightened up. Furthermore, any vestiges of racism need to be wiped out as a matter of urgency. For the sake of the exiled couple, and in the best interests of the royal family, the hope is that some form of reconciliation will be achieved in the not-too-distant future. .
Ashis Banerjee