UK vehicle production has plummeted to its lowest level since 1952, marking a 15.5% decline from the previous year.
The decline was driven by a perfect storm of structural changes and unexpected crises. A major factor was a massive cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover in September, which paralyzed the computer networks of Britain’s largest automotive employer. The attack forced factories to sit idle for over a month, causing a production backlog that took months to resolve.
Restructuring across the industry further hampered volumes. The closure of Vauxhall’s historic Luton plant in March led to a 62% crash in commercial vehicle production. Additionally, major players such as Nissan and JLR temporarily halted output of ageing models to retool their facilities for a decarbonized future.
International trade barriers have also taken a heavy toll on an industry where 78% of cars are destined for export. Sales to the United States were dampened by new 10% tariffs, while “increasingly protectionist” proposals from the European Union threaten future access to the UK’s largest export market. High energy costs also continue to make the UK a more expensive place to build cars compared to international rivals.
Despite the gloomy headlines, there are significant positives within the data. Production of electric and hybrid vehicles rose by 8.3% last year, accounting for a record 41.7% of total output. The successful launch of the new electric Nissan Leaf in Sunderland and seven upcoming EV models from other manufacturers offer a clear pathway to recovery.
The SMMT remains “optimistic but realistic” about the future, predicting that production will return to growth in 2026. Experts believe that if the government delivers on its Modern Industrial Strategy – driving down energy costs and securing tariff-free trade – UK production could exceed one million units by 2027.
Says SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes:
“2025 was the toughest year in a generation for UK vehicle manufacturing. Structural changes, new trade barriers and a cyber attack that stopped production at one of the UK’s most important manufacturers combined to constrain output, but the outlook for 2026 is one of recovery.
“The launch of a raft of new, increasingly electric, models and an improving economic outlook in key markets augur well. The key to long-term growth, however, is the creation of the right competitive conditions for investment; reduced energy costs; the avoidance of new trade barriers; and a healthy, sustainable domestic market.
“Government has set out how it will back the sector with its Industrial and Trade strategies, and 2026 must be a year of delivery.”
The bride, now Lady Pamela Hicks, wore a white satin gown by Worth, which featured white fur as a nod to the winter wedding. Atop her head was the Mountbatten Pearl and Diamond tiara, loaned to her by her mother for the occasion. The provenance of the Belle Epoque style piece is unknown, but The Royal Watcher surmises that it must have originated around 1901, as a wedding gift for Countess Mountbatten’s own mother, Amalia Mary Maud Cassel, when she married Wilfried Ashley.
Lady Pamela wore a gown by Worth and a family heirloom tiara
PA Images/Getty Images
Lady Pamela wore the tiara for some of the nation’s most historic moments, including the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the following Commonwealth tour, which she recalled being a tiring experience, especially “donning an evening dress and tiara at 10 in the morning.”
On her wedding day, Pamela Hicks was accompanied by a host of royals–though her friend, Queen Elizabeth II, could not attend, as she was heavily pregnant with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at the time. Queen Louise of Sweden and Prince Philip joined the congregation, as did the Queen Mother (who wore a brooch belonging to Queen Victoria), Princess Alice, Princess Marina, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess Sophie of Greece and Hanover, and Penelope Knatchbull. Alongside them were a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, then aged just 11 and 10 respectively.
The newlyweds would go on to welcome three children–Edwina, a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth; Ashley, a godson of Prince Philip, and India, a goddaughter of King Charles who served as a bridesmaid at his wedding to Princess Diana–and raised their family at home in the Chilterns. The Hickses continued to serve a crucial role as pillars of support for the late Queen and the royal family for decades to come, and David and Lady Pamela spent 38 years together before David passed away on March 29, 1998.
It’s easy to imagine cutlery clinking, chandeliers sparkling and two icons staring at each other. On June 5, 1961, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy dined with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace. It wasn’t a state banquet, but instead a highly formal dinner in the midst of a European tour. All accounts agree on one thing: the evening was anything but carefree, with extraneous guests shunned and personal sensitivities ruffled. In his book Q: A Voyage Around the Queen, British journalist Craig Brown meticulously recounted the waltz of the evening that Camelot came to Buckingham.
According to Brown, Jackie Kennedy had requested the presence of her sister, Lee Radziwill, and her brother-in-law, Polish Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill, at the dinner. Initially considered undesirable because the former had already been divorced once and the latter twice, Elizabeth II finally relented and extended the invitations after “much hesitation.” However, the sovereign’s strong position enabled her to exact revenge in her own way. According to writer Gore Vidal, a close friend of Jackie Kennedy, the monarch deliberately withheld invitations from Princess Margaret and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, whom the American first lady had expressly asked to meet. The result, Brown wrote, was an evening of “dreary platitude” that left the first lady unimpressed. “No Margaret, no Marina, no one but every Commonwealth agriculture minister they could find,” she was quoted as saying.
Yet it was in the midst of this staid ceremony that a moment of connivance between the two women is said to have arisen. The Queen is said to have asked Jackie Kennedy about her recent tour of Canada, leading the first lady to confide how “exhausting” it was to perform for hours on end, and Elizabeth II, “looking conspiratorial,” according to Brown, replied: “With time, you become astute, you learn to take it easy.” The line alone sums up a royal philosophy of public survival: Allowing yourself a side exit, a detour, an airlock—in short, keeping your breath to last. According to Vidal, Jackie found the exchange with the sovereign “rather laborious.” When Vidal later reported the phrase to Princess Margaret, she reportedly retorted, with acid phlegm: “But that’s why she’s here.”
Queen Elizabeth II and Jacqueline Kennedy on June 5, 1961 at Buckingham Palace
Bettmann / GettyImages
This little sound bite says a lot about the era and the contrast the two iconic women embodied. On the one hand, there was Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, who had then only recently moved into the White House and was astonishingly modern. On the other, a monarch in a woolen suit, crown on her head, who had reigned over traditions for the past decade. Should this be seen as a rivalry? Not necessarily, as their relationship continued without public drama. Jackie Kennedy returned to see the Queen in 1962, and after JFK’s assassination, Elizabeth II honored the late President’s memory in the presence of Jackie and the children. But Elizabeth’s simple advice has endured through the ages, applicable to many public figures, precisely because it sheds light on the intimate mechanics of charisma. Grace isn’t just magnetism, it’s also technique. And at Buckingham, as at the White House, it’s an essential survival skill.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claims in his soon-to-be released memoir that Queen Elizabeth II was diagnosed with bone cancer before her death in September 2022 at the age of 96. His assertion represents a significant break with royal protocol between the prime minister’s office and Buckingham Palace, under which the U.K.’s elected leaders generally keep the royal family’s private matter to themselves.
Johnson makes the claim in his upcoming memoir, “Unleashed,” which is scheduled for release later in October. An excerpt from the book, with the purported detail about the late queen’s health, was published this week in Johnson’s regular column for the Daily Mail newspaper.
No senior British government official or member of the royal family has previously disclosed any detail about the late queen’s cause of death. An official death certificate published a week after Queen Elizabeth died listed the cause of death as “old age.”
Queen Elizabeth II welcomes newly elected leader of the Conservative party Boris Johnson during an audience in Buckingham Palace, London, where she invited him to become Prime Minister and form a new government.
PA/Victoria Jones
“I had known for a year or more that she had a form of bone cancer, and her doctors were worried that at any time she could enter a sharp decline,” Johnson says in his book. “She seemed pale and more stooped, and she had dark bruising on her hands and wrists, probably from drips or injections.’”
Although he said the queen seemed to be ailing, Johnson said she was still sharp in his final meeting with her.
“Her mind… was completely unimpaired,” he writes. “She still flashed that great white smile in its sudden mood-lifting beauty.”
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II waits to meet with new Conservative Party leader and Britain’s Prime Minister-elect at Balmoral Castle in Ballater, Scotland, on September 6, 2022, two days before she died at the age of 96.
JANE BARLOW/POOL/AFP/Getty
Buckingham Palace declined to comment when asked by CBS News about Johnson’s claim. The palace typically does not comment on claims about the private lives of royal family members in books or print.
While Johnson’s remarks break with the long-time tradition of U.K. prime ministers not commenting publicly on what’s said during private meetings with royal family members, they are not entirely unprecedented.
In 2014, then-Prime Minister David Cameron apologized to Queen Elizabeth for disclosing details of a private conversation with her about the results of a referendum in which Scots rejected the idea of Scotland’s secession from the United Kingdom to become an independent state.
Cameron had been overheard telling former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg the monarch appeared relieved that the Scots had voted in favor of remaining in the U.K., suggesting the late queen had “purred down the line” after the final results.
Former British leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have also given some detail of conversations and interactions they had with Queen Elizabeth in books about their time in office.
Elizabeth’s first son, who became King Charles III upon her death, broke with the long-standing precedent of not revealing personal royal health news earlier this year, when Buckingham Palace revealed that he was being treated for cancer, though the palace has not reveal what type of cancer he’s being treated for.
A month after the revelation about the monarch’s health trouble, his daughter-in-law Catherine, the Princess of Wales, revealed her own cancer diagnosis. Princess Kate said in September that she had completed her treatment, but that her “path to healing” would be long.
Notes featuring the Queen’s portrait already made will still be put into circulation.
New notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.
This is to reduce the environmental impact and save on costs.
On all current coins the Queen’s portrait faces the right, but Charles looks to the left because of a tradition that means the way the monarch faces must change with each new successor.
Rarest and most valuable Olympic Coins to look out for ahead of Paris 2024 worth upto £1,000 – exact details to spot
The most recent image of the Queen on coins is the fifth portrait, designed by Jody Clark.
It was issued in 2015 and shows a side profile of the Queen wearing a crown and drop earrings.
Meanwhile, on British notes, a similar image of the Queen has been in place since the 90s.
New coins and notes were made when the Queen’s father George VI, the former King of England, passed too.
When will coins and notes with the Queen’s face on end?
The current circulating designs will be discontinued and a new design that represents the new head of state will replace them.
But it won’t all happen straight away.
Any coins or notes you have on you now will still be legal tender for a while yet.
We don’t know exactly when each design will be removed from circulation.
There are around 27 billion coins currently circulating in the UK bearing the effigy of the Queen.
These will be replaced over time as they become damaged or worn, and to meet demand for additional coins.
When the Queen came to power though, coins with her father’s image stayed in circulation for almost 20 years after his death.
But they were removed when decimalisation was introduced in 1971.
Production of coins won’t abruptly stop either.
The Royal Mint manufactures between three million and four million coins a day, and it’s likely to continue with the production of the current portrait and design until the end of the year at least.
That means we won’t see any new styles crop up in change until 2024. The same goes for notes.
Notes went through a major style change when they changed from paper to plastic – and the slow process means some paper copies are still legal tender even now.
But bank notes are updated approximately every 15 years anyway, so it won’t be long before current designs disappear altogether.
What kind of value will current coins and notes hold?
As the currency with the Queen on will eventually cease to be produced altogether, they’ll be harder to come across.
That means collectors will be more desperate to snap up copies as they become rarer over time, with the new designs taking the lead in popularity and production.
Rarer coins and notes are often more valuable, and can sometimes sell for hundreds of pounds more than face value at auction – if the right bidder is interested.
What are the most rare and valuable coins?
Does it affect anyone outside the UK?
During her reign, the Queen was head of the Commonwealth, so that meant her portrait was used on plenty of other countries’ currency too.
The Queen appears on the Canadian $20 bill for example, as well as on the Australian dollar coin.
Now that Charles has taken over, these designs will also have to change just like coins and notes on our side of the pond.
According to The Coin Expert this will take longer than it will in this country though.
That’s because it is easier to enforce a new design in the country it originates from rather than elsewhere, where other rules may get in the way.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
He started building it in 1070 and it took 16 years to complete.
Over the years it has been the official residence of 40 monarchs and their families.
William the Conqueror chose to build the castle in that location because of its view of the Thames, as well as its closeness to the Saxton hunting ground.
Read more on Windsor Castle
Henry I was the first monarch to use Windsor Castle as his home in 1110.
His grandson Henry II liked the castle so much that he renovated it to make it sturdier.
Queen Elizabeth II was here for the drama! It turns out Her Majesty “loved when things went wrong” because it made her life more spicy! Seriously!
The late Queen of England’s former aide Samantha Cohen is speaking out and revealing some hot goss about what it was like to work with the monarch. In a new interview published on Monday by the Herald Sun, Samantha dished:
“The Queen had no ego, she was so comfortable in herself, yet she loved it when things went wrong. If a cake was not cutting or a plaque didn’t unveil, because everything was so perfectly organized, it spiced her life up when things went wrong.”
LOLz! Love that she enjoyed a little chaos — and it makes sense! Perfect would get boring over time!
But now we have MORE questions! Surely, she couldn’t have loved all the drama in her life, right?? Prince Harry’s royal rift and all the controversy that surrounded the ongoing family feud must’ve crossed a line for her! Or maybe not?? Maybe all drama was good?! Either way, it sounds like she always kept a level head when things went wrong, which is what made her such a joy to work with. Cohen, who was Elizabeth’s assistant private secretary for 17 years, continued:
“I loved, loved, loved the job as the Queen’s assistant private secretary. They were happy times because the Queen was in great form.”
The pair were so close that Elizabeth invited Samantha and her family to visit both Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House for Christmas. Samantha also had her own room at Windsor Castle and had the “best times” with the matriarch when they traveled on two royal tours to Australia in 2002 and 2011. After working together from 2001 to 2018, the aide moved over to become Harry and Meghan Markle‘s private secretary — before leaving the palace just one year later. Oof.
It’s been rumored that she left due to harsh treatment, but she neglected to address such reports. The outlet did, however, note that she confirmed being one of ten staff members interviewed by Buckingham Palace following a bullying complaint filed by the Sussexes’ former communications secretary. So… do with that what you will!
Are you surprised Queen Elizabeth was down for the drama? Let us know (below)!
Balmoral Castle was mostly used by the Queen to gather her family together
2
King Charles has opened up the castle to the publicCredit: Getty
Where is Balmoral Castle?
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, near the village of Crathie.
The vast property is situated 6.2 miles west of Ballater and 6.8 miles east of Braemar.
The estate and castle are privately owned by the Royal Family and are not the property of the Crown.
The existing house on site was found to be too small, so the royals purchased the estate in 1852.
Read More on The Royal Family
In its place, the construction of the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned.
William Smith of Aberdeen was the architect, although his designs were amended by Prince Albert.
Historic Scotland classified the castle as a category A listed building.
The new castle was completed in 1856, with the old castle demolished shortly thereafter.
Successive Royal Family members added to the Balmoral Estate, and it now covers an area of approximately 50,000 acres.
As well as the main castle, there are 150 other buildings on the estate, including Birkhall, the estate of King Charles, Craigowan Lodge, and several other cottages.
Balmoral is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.
Since 1987, an illustration of the castle has been featured on the reverse side of £100 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The crimson-coloured notes are the largest denomination of banknotes issued by The Royal Bank of Scotland and are still in production.
Locals hoping for King to return to Balmoral as they will him on in battle with cancer
Can the public visit Balmoral?
Yes, they can.
The castle gardens were first opened to the public in 1931.
Balmoral Castle is open to the public every day from April to July, while no members of the Royal Family are there.
Opening times are from 10am till 5pm, with the last recommended admissions at 4pm.
The ballroom is the only room within the castle that may be viewed by the public, the rest are the Queen’s private rooms.
It is also possible to book a short stay at several of the guest cottages on the grounds.
On April 10, 2024, it was announced that King Charles had broken royal tradition by offering tours of Balmoral Castle for the first time in history.
The tours will take place from July 1 to August 4, 2024.
They are expected to take visitors “on a historical journey through several of the beautiful rooms within Balmoral Castle,” according to the tour’s ticketing page.
Are the castle tour and afternoon tea tickets still available?
Tickets for guided tours are available to purchase via the official Balmoral Castle website.
It’s important to note that the tours are for adults only and are restricted to groups of 10 people.
The guided interior tours will only run between the 1st of July and the 4th of August.
There is also limited availability for tickets so be sure to get your tickets if you want a spot.
2
The late Queen used the place of residence frequentlyCredit: PA:Press Association
How much does it cost to get into Balmoral Castle?
Guided tour tickets start from £100 per person and £150 if you want to add an afternoon tea.
However, if you’d rather go with general admission to the grounds, gardens and exhibitions, tickets cost £17.50 for adults and £9 for children, under 5s go free.
Who lives at Balmoral Castle?
Balmoral Castle, of all the royals’ properties, was referred to as the Queen’s favourite home where in summer, members of the Royal Family would meet and enjoy various activities together.
They range from fishing, hunting, picnicking and barbecuing while getting together with some of the royals which they might haven’t seen in a long time.
The late Queen had often been seen riding horses or driving her beloved Range Rover over the estate’s rugged terrain.
In 2022, Her Majesty arrived at Balmoral in July, after the Platinum Jubilee celebrations held in London.
July 22, 2011 – Her wedding dress is put on display at Buckingham Palace.
January 5, 2012 – Announces the four charities she will support as a patron: the Art Room, which helps disadvantaged children express themselves through art; the National Portrait Gallery, which houses a famous collection of royal paintings and photographs; East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which helps children with life-threatening conditions; and Action on Addiction, which assists those with addiction issues.
March 19, 2012 – Gives her first official public address at East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice facility in Ipswich, England.
September 2012 – The French magazine Closer runs photographs of the Duchess privately sunbathing topless. The pictures also run in the Irish Daily Star newspaper.
September 17, 2012 – The Duchess and William file a complaint in France against the photographer who took the topless sunbathing pictures. They are seeking damages and would like to prevent further publication of the photos. The French magazine Closer, the Irish Daily Star and the Italian magazine Chi have each published some of the topless photos.
December 3, 2012 – The royal household announces that the Duchess is pregnant. According to the announcement, she is admitted to hospital with acute morning sickness.
June 18, 2021 – The Duchess launches The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. In a video announcing the center’s creation, the duchess says the goal is to “raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes.”
March 11, 2024 – Apologizes for an edited official photograph that was recalled by a number of international news agencies over concerns it had been manipulated. Catherine says she is sorry for “any confusion” caused by the image after her “experiment” with photo editing. The photograph, released to mark Mother’s Day in the UK, was the first official picture of Catherine since she underwent abdominal surgery in January.
THE gulf between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the rest of the Royal Family seems to widen every week.
And it wasn’t helped yesterday by the Duchess of Sussex unveiling her new home, food, garden and lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard shortly before Prince William was due to speak at his late mother’s Legacy Award event in London.
19
Prince William paid tribute to the winners of the Legacy Awards last nightCredit: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Pala
19
Meghan’s brand logo appeared online shortly before Wills’ speechCredit: Instgram/americanrivieraorchard
The move was slammed by slammed by royal experts as yet another attempt to steal the limelight, with one branding it “calculated” and another claiming it would have “saddened Diana.”
Meghan’s glitzy Instagram post showing off her new crest surfaced an hour before William delivered an emotional speech at the Diana Awards at London’s Science Museum, where Harry later appeared via video link.
Meghan and Harry also chose yesterday to announce the winner of their $100,000 (£78,500) NAACP – Archewell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Award.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams slammed the timing, saying there was “nothing accidental” about them, adding: “The announcement of the new brand is totally consistent with the timing of all the Sussexes’ announcements.”
Here we take a look at all the times the couple have shamelessly stolen the royals’ thunder.
Spare bombshell interviews
Ahead of the publication of Prince Harry’s controversial memoir Spare, he sat down for long interviews with ITV’s Tom Bradby and Anderson Cooper, for US channel CBS, in January last year – the day before the Princess of Wales’ 41st birthday.
In a series of shocking accusations against his family, he claimed royals sought to protect their own reputation “to the detriment” of the Sussexes and that they were “complicit” in their “pain and suffering”.
He also detailed the alleged tense relationship between Kate and Meghan in the interviews.
19
Prince Harry gave the bombshell interview on the eve of Kate’s birthdayCredit: ITV
Everything we know about Meghan’s new business
MEGHAN Markle has launched a new Instagram brand called American Riviera Orchard.
Industry insiders said the site will focus on home, food, garden and lifestyle goods.
A source told the Mail: “It’s a lifestyle and cooking brand called American Riviera Orchard.
“The brand is meant to coincide with the launch of a new cookery show for Netflix.
“Meghan will be making, and selling, products such as jams. And at some point there will be a book and blog etc.”
As the interviews made global headlines, the official Royal Family’s social media channels posted a simple birthday wish for Kate, writing: “Wishing the Princess of Wales a very happy birthday.”
But the timing didn’t escape the attention of royal fans, with one tweeting: “I can’t believe Harry is doing this to Kate on the eve of her birthday…”
Meghan Markle is using Princess Diana’s legacy to promote her new business – it’s opportunism at its worst
Another wrote: “Prince Harry: I love Kate! Also Harry: I’m releasing this book on your birthday darling.”
Netflix trailer
19
Harry and Meghan’s Netflix trailer dropped as William and Kate took on engagements in BostonCredit: Netflix
19
William and Kate ignored the issue on their US tripCredit: Splash
Angela Levin told The Sun: “I think that the day seems chosen to ruin Kate and William’s trip – to take away everything from that.
“To pile it on. There was no need to do it that day. It was done deliberately to spoil their visit.”
‘Pregnancy announcement’ at wedding
19
Meghan and Harry told family members they were expecting ArchieCredit: AFP
19
Eugenie was not impressed by Meghan’s news on her big dayCredit: PA
Princess Eugenie walked down the aisle with Jack Brooksbank in October 2018, just months after Harry and Meghan tied the knot.
But when news of Meghan’s pregnancy broke days later, it was claimed the couple had upstaged the bride by breaking the happy news to the Queen, Prince Charles and the rest of the family at the wedding reception.
Pictures showed Harry speaking to the late Queen, fuelling speculation that this was the moment he broke the news.
A source later claimed the Queen already knew, but had not seen her grandson in person to congratulate him, and that the bride and groom had also been told in advance.
But it is thought that the royal get-together was the first time most of the family learned she was expecting their first child.
And in Finding Freedom, the sympathetic biography of the Sussexes, a source reveals Eugenie was “upset” by the couple going public on her big day.
The Princess “told friends she felt the couple should have waited to share the news”, the books claimed, adding that it “did not go down particularly well”.
Meghan’s career relaunch
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry have been busy since stepping back as senior working royals.
Meghan has signed with American podcast network Lemonada Media to create new content, and her old 12-episode Archetypes episodes will also be distributed by the firm.
The couple still have their deal with Netflix, where they have created shows like their Harry & Meghan documentary, and the Duke of Sussex’s Heart of Invictus show.
And Meghan has enlisted Beverly Hills talent agency William Morris Endeavour ahead of her long-planned relaunch.
The cameo appearance sees the former Suits star doing multiple roles at coffee company Clevr Blends, including packing, working on the digital team, and on the operations team.
Bombshell Oprah interview
19
Meghan and Harry’s bombshell Oprah interview contained sensational claimsCredit: AP
19
It was broadcast on the day of the Queen’s Commonwealth addressCredit: Getty
The couple used the platform to make bombshell claims against the Royal Family, including a charge of racist comments made about the colour of son Archie’s skin, allegedly made by a senior royal before his birth.
Meghan also claimed she had been “silenced” by the Royal Family and left depressed, with suicidal thoughts, by her treatment.
But the decision to air on March 7, 2021, just hours after the Queen’s annual Commonwealth Day Speech aired on the BBC, was criticised in royal circles.
One expert claimed the clash could have been avoided had the Sussexes forewarned the Palace about the interview, calling the decision to grab the headlines on the day of the Queen’s speech “disrespectful”.
Harry’s job announcement
Harry, once extremely close to cousin Princess Eugenie, risked upsetting her again when he chose her birthday to make a job announcement.
Buckingham Palace released two pictures to celebrate Eugenie’s 31st birthday, on March 23 2021.
Just hours later The Wall Street Journal released news that the Duke – keen to show he could stand on his own two feet – had landed a high-paid job in Silicon Valley as “Chief Impact Officer” at health tech company Better Inc.
Prince Harry ‘pain’ podcast
19
Kate and William visited various charities for Mental Health Awareness WeekCredit: Splash
19
Harry talked about his ‘pain’ with Dax Shepherd on a podcast that same weekCredit: armchairexpertpod.com
In the pre-split days, when the brothers and their wives were known as the Fab Four, they were joint advocates for mental health awareness, appearing together at a Royal Foundation event on the issue.
But in May 2021, as Kate and William attended numerous charity events for Mental Health Awareness Week, Prince Harry dropped a devastating podcast talking about a “cycle of pain and suffering” – suggesting he was treated badly by his father because “that’s the way he was treated”.
“I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on,” he said.
At the time, William – whose own tireless work for mental health charities was drowned out by Harry’s complaints – was said to be “very shocked” by his brother’s claims.
Book clash
19
Meghan’s book was announced in May 2021Credit: Rex
19
Kate’s book came out days laterCredit: PA
In the same month, Meghan was accused of “trying to upstage Kate” by announcing the release of her children’s book days before Kate’s photography album was released.
On May 4, 2021, Meghan announced she would be publishing The Bench, an illustrated story inspired by son Archie and husband Harry.
But some pointed out the announcement came just days before publication of a photography book that Kate had been working on for a year.
The book, Hold Still, captured life in the UK under lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic.
One furious Kate fan tweeted: “So now just as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, has the HOLD STILL book about to be released on May 7, [Meghan] chooses to release a book she wrote in 2019. Connect the dots, people!”
Christmas card row
19
This Christmas image revealed Lilibet for the first timeCredit: Alexi Lubomirski
19
The Queen’s image was released the same dayCredit: Getty
Last Christmas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex caused a sensation when they shared the first glimpse of their daughter Lilibet and the first real look at son Archie’s face on their festive card.
But the post on social media came just hours before Buckingham Palace published an image of the Queen from her annual speech, ahead of its Christmas Day airing.
The much-anticipated speech was the first since the late monarch lost her beloved husband, Prince Philip, in April 2021.
The couple were accused of overshadowing the event, with Kate Garraway suggesting they were trying to “usurp” the Queen.
Queen’s birthday row
19
Harry talked about the ‘pain’ of being a royal kidCredit: NBC
On the eve of the nation’s celebrations for the Queen’s 96th birthday, in April 2022, Harry once again angered the royal circle by giving a cringeworthy interview in which he claimed he was her protector.
In an interview with US news channel NBC, broadcast the night before her birthday, he said: “I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her.”
Members of the royal household were said to be shocked and angered by the comments.
Angela Levin called for him to be banned from the Jubilee celebrations later that year, commenting: “Harry’s comment on US TV about him checking the Queen is protected is a gross insult to Prince Charles and William.”
Upstaging Dad
19
The King’s first official family portrait excluded the coupleCredit: AP
19
The new portrait was released days laterCredit: AFP
On October 1 2022, Buckingham Palace shared the first official snap of the recently ascended King Charles, the Queen Consort and the Prince and Princess of Wales, as the mourning period for the Queen came to an end.
Harry and Meghan, notably absent from the family scene despite being in the UK at the time it was taken, chose to make their own statement two days later, by releasing two new portraits of themselves at the One Young World conference in Manchester.
New Archie pics
19
Meghan and mum Doria Ragland with ArchieCredit: Harris_Duchess/Twitter
In November 2022, a new image of rarely-seen Archie, sitting on Meghan’s knee during a Zoom chat, was released as Kate and William touched down in the US.
The image – which sent fans into frenzy over the unrecognisable toddler – was released by Professor Duchess Harris.
Royal fans suggested the timing was a deliberate attempt to divert from the Wales’ Earthshot mission.
One tweeted: “Notice Rachel Markle [Meghan’s birth name] puts this out to try and distract from Prince William and princesses of Wales!”
Markle sparkle: Duchess’ business ventures from wellness blog The Tig to kids’ book The Bench
ALONG with her well-known acting career Meghan Markle has also carved out something of a career in the business world as well.
Before getting engaged to Prince Harry, the Suits actress had her lifestyle blog The Tig but this was closed down when she got engaged in 2017.
The Tig, named after her favourite wine Tignanello, was seen as something as a rival to Gwyneth Paltrow‘s £200million Goop, which offers similar wellness and “conscious living” content.
She previously described it as a “passion project” which “evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity”.
Since stepping down as senior royals, the couple have produced a podcast, Netflix documentary and memoir, as well as several high-profile interviews between them.
Speaking in docuseries Harry & Meghan, the mum-of-two said of the blog: “It wasn’t just a hobby, it became a really successful business.
“I’ve never really been the type of person to do only one thing. I guess that’s how my website was born.
“There was fashion, tons of food, and travel – all the things that I loved.”
Rumours emerged in March last year that Meghan was going to relaunch the blog.
Meghan also ventured into the world of children’s books with the launch of The Bench in June 2021.
Inside Meghan’s 34-page book The Bench, the illustrations give a fresh glimpse into the Sussexes’ “authentic” life at their LA home – featuring their then newborn daughter.
The publication was a commerical success with it becoming a number one bestseller on Amazon’s chart.
Meghan dedicated her book to the “man and boy who make my heart go pump-pump” in a sweet note for her husband Prince Harry and son Archie.
The mum was “inspired” to write the book after originally creating a poem for Harry’s first Father’s Day.
The royal couple have also been reported to be planning an Oprah-style media empire after registering a series of new entertainment businesses.
They appear to have names which are meaningful to the couple, with one – Cloverdale Inc – bearing the same name as the street that the Duchess lived on with her mother in Los Angeles when she was young.
Both Cloverdale and a second company, Riversoul Productions Inc, are set up explicitly in the “entertainment” industry, and join companies Hampshire LLC, Bridgemont LLC and IPHW LLC.
The couple are already using name Archewell Productions for their Netflix and Spotify deals.
Sandringham Palace is where the late Queen traditionally spent ChristmasCredit: sandringham1870/Instagram
Where is Sandringham Estate?
Located in Norfolk, Sandringham Estate was bought by as a country home for Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, and his soon-to-be wife, Alexandra of Denmark in 1862.
The Grade II-listed house was then passed down to the late Queen‘s father, George VI, in 1900, who passed it onto her.
To this day, the impressive property continues to be privately owned by the Royal Family.
None of the Royal Family live permanently at Sandringham Estate, but the property has historically been their preferred residence for Christmas and New Year,.
In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II gave her first televised Christmas message from the estate,.
This came 25 years after the first radio broadcast from the house, made by her grandfather, Edward VIII.
The Sandringham Estate covers 20,000 acres of land, and even boasts a sprawling country park.
According to the estate’s website, more than 200 people make their living from the estate, including gamekeepers, gardeners, farmers, as well as workers for Sandringham’s sawmill and its apple juice pressing plant.
The house is a Grade II listed building and the landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Each monarch who has lived in Sandringham has developed the grounds to their taste and infused a bit of their personality.
On its website, it says: “A densely planted shrubbery with a shade woodland walk was instigated by Queen Elizabeth II in the late 1960s.”
Her Majesty brought a collection of Rhododendron, Camellia, and Magnolia trees from Windsor, another of her favourite residences.
They were planted in Sandringham in the hope that they would create “more interest, shelter, and privacy in the garden”.
After taking over the estate, King Charles has implemented several changes to the estate as well.
The palace statement said Charles was “grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention,” and insisted the king “looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”
A source close to Charles’ younger son Harry, who lives in California, told the BBC the prince had spoken to his father and will be flying back to the U.K. to be at his side. The pair have met just once since Charles became king — at his coronation in May 2023.
Charles’ health had already been of some concern after he spent three days in a London hospital for prostate treatment last month.
Buckingham Palace revealed Monday night that during this treatment, “a separate issue of concern was noted.”
“Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer,” the statement said. “His majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties.
“Throughout this period, his majesty will continue to undertake state business and official paperwork as usual.”
Meghan and Harry sat down for a ‘nothing off limits’ interview with Oprah WinfreyCredit: CBS
OPRAH: We can’t hug, everybody is double- masked and has face shields. You look lovely. Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?
Meghan: We do this time. I’ll wait for my husband to join us and we can share that with you.
Oprah: That would be really great. Before we get into to it, I just want to make clear to everybody that, even though we’re neighbours, I’m down the road, you’re up the road, we’re using a friend’s place. There has not been an agreement, you don’t know what I’m going to ask, there is no subject that’s off limits and you are not getting paid for this interview.
Meghan: All of that’s correct.
Oprah: I remember sitting in the chapel — thanks for inviting me, by the way. I so recall this sense of magic. I never experienced anything like it. When you came through that door, you seemed like you were floating down the aisle. Were you even inside your body at that time?
Meghan: I’ve thought about this a lot. It was like having an out-of- body experience I was very present for. The night before, I slept through the night entirely, which is a bit of a miracle, and then woke up and started listening to Going To The Chapel, to make it fun and light and remind ourselves this was our day. We were both aware in advance of that this wasn’t our day, this was the day planned for the world.
24
The two-hour chat saw them lift the lid on the Royal Family and MegxitCredit: CBS
Oprah: Everybody who gets married knows you’re really marrying the family. But you weren’t just marrying a family, you were marrying a 1,200-year-old institution, you’re marrying the monarchy. What did you think it was going to be like?
Meghan: I would say I went into it naively because I didn’t grow up knowing much about the Royal Family. It wasn’t part of something that was part of conversation at home. It wasn’t something that we followed. My mum even said to me a couple of months ago, ‘Did Diana ever do an interview?’ Now I can say. ‘Yes, a very famous one’, but my mum doesn’t know that.
Oprah: But you were aware of the royals and, if you were going to marry into the royals, you’d do research about what that would mean?
Meghan: I didn’t do any research about what that would mean.
Oprah: You didn’t do any research?
Your Prince Harry and Meghan Markle questions answered
Meghan: No. I didn’t feel any need to, because everything I needed to know he was sharing with me. Everything we thought I needed to know, he was telling me.
Oprah: So, you didn’t have a conversation with yourself, or talk to your friends about what it would be like to marry a prince, who is Harry, who you had fallen in love with . . . you didn’t give it a lot of thought?
Meghan: No. We thought a lot about what we thought it might be. I didn’t fully understand what the job was: What does it mean to be a working royal? What do you do? What does that mean? He and I were very aligned on our cause- driven work, that was part of our initial connection. But there was no way to understand what the day-to- day was going to be like, and it’s so different because I didn’t romanticise any element of it. But I think, as Americans especially, what you do know about the royals is what you read in fairytales, and you think is what you know about the royals. It’s easy to have an image that is so far from reality, and that’s what was so tricky over those past few years, when the perception and the reality are two different things and you’re being judged on the perception but you’re living the reality of it. There’s a complete misalignment and there’s no way to explain that to people.
Oprah: With every family things get serious when you’re brought in to meet the grandmother or the mother. The grandmother is the matriarch and, in your situation it’s the Queen.
24
Oprah promised the Sussexes had no prior knowledge of what they would be askedCredit: ITV
Meghan: She was one of the first people I met. The real Queen.
Oprah: What was that like? Were you worried about making the right impression?
Meghan: There wasn’t a huge formality the first time I met Her Majesty The Queen. We were going for lunch at Royal Lodge, which is where some other members of the family live, specifically Andrew and Fergie, and Eugenie and Beatrice would spend a lot of time there. Eugenie and I had known each other before I knew Harry, so that was comfortable and it turned out the Queen was finishing a church service in Windsor and so she was going to be at the house. Harry and I were in the car and he says, ‘OK, well my grandmother is there, you’re going to meet her’. (I said) ‘OK, great’. I loved my grandmother, I used to take care of my grandmother. (He said) ‘Do you know how to curtsey?’ ‘What?’ ‘Do you know how to curtsey?’ I thought genuinely that’s what happens outside, that was part of the fanfare. I didn’t think that’s what happens inside. I go, ‘But it’s your grandmother’. He goes, ‘It’s the Queen!’
Oprah: Wow!
Meghan: And that was really the first moment the penny dropped?
Oprah: Did you Google how to curtsey?
Meghan: No, we were in the car. Deeply, to show respect, I learned it very quickly right in front of the house. We practised and walked in.
Oprah: Harry practised?
Meghan: Yeah, and Fergie ran out and said, ‘Are you ready? Do you know how to curtsey? Oh, my goodness, you guys’. I practised very quickly and went in, and apparently, I did a very deep curtsey, and we just sat there and we chatted and it was lovely and easy and I think, thank God, I hadn’t known a lot about the family. Thank God, I hadn’t researched. I would have been so in my head about all of it.
Oprah: (What) you’re sharing with us is that you were no more nervous as a regular person who goes to meet somebody’s grandmother.
Meghan: I had confused the idea. I grew up in LA, you see celebrities all the time. This is not the same but it’s very easy, especially as an American, to go, ‘These are famous people’. This is a completely different ball game.
(Cut to them and Oprah at their house)
Oprah: What are you feeling here (their home)? What’s the word?
Meghan: Peace.
Oprah: Peace?
Meghan: Yeah.
(Oprah narrates) The day after our interview, I stopped over to Harry and Meghan’s new home.
24
Meghan said her 2018 royal wedding ‘wasn’t our day, this was the day planned for the world’Credit: Getty
Meghan: Hi, Guy (dog).
Oprah: Hi, Guy.
Meghan: Yeah, Guy’s been — Guy’s been through everything with me.
Oprah: Yeah, from the beginning, from the very first date, yeah?
Meghan: If Guy, I mean, I had him in Canada. I got him from a kill shelter in Kentucky.
Oprah: Yeah?
(In Harry and Meghan’s hen coop)
Meghan: Hi, girls!
(Oprah narrates) We put on wellies to feed the hens Meghan and Harry recently rescued from a factory farm. ‘I love your little designer house here. Archie’s chick inn. Oh, how cute is that.’
Harry: She’s always wanted chickens.
Meghan: Well, you know, I just love rescuing.
Oprah: So, this is a part of your new life? What are you most excited about?
Meghan: Whoop! You’re OK . . .
Oprah: What are you most excited about in the new life? What are you most excited about? Here, chick, chick, chick, chick.
Meghan: I think just being able to live authentically.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: Right? Like this kind of stuff. It’s so, it’s so basic, but it’s really fulfilling. Just getting back down to basics. I was thinking about it — even at our wedding, you know, three days before our wedding, we got married . . .
Oprah: Ah!
Meghan: No one knows that. But we called the Archbishop, and we just said, ‘Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us’. So, like, the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that was the piece that . . .
Harry: Just the three of us.
Oprah: Really?
Harry: Just the three of us.
Meghan: Just the three of us.
(Back to Oprah)
Oprah: You know, the wedding was the most perfect picture, you know, anybody’s ever seen. But through that picture that we were all seeing, behind the scenes, obviously, there was a lot of drama going on. And soon after your marriage, the tabloids started offering stories that painted a not-so-flattering picture of you in your new world. There were rumours about you being ‘Hurricane Meghan’.
Meghan: I hadn’t heard that.
24
She said she didn’t research the Royal Family before she married HarryCredit: AFP and licensors
Oprah: OK.
Oprah: So, there were rumours about you being Hurricane Meghan, for the departure of several high-profile palace staff members. And there was also a story — did you hear this one? — about you making Kate Middleton cry?
Meghan: This I heard about.
Oprah: You heard about that. OK.
Meghan: This was . . . that was . . . that was a turning point.
Oprah: That was a turning point?
Meghan: Yeah.
Kate made me cry days before wedding, but I got blamed… that was hard.
(Oprah narrates) Six months after Harry and Meghan’s wedding, headlines began to swirl about a rift between Meghan and her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. It was reported that Meghan had left Kate “in tears” over the bride-to-be’s “strict demands” over flower-girl dresses.
Meghan: The narrative with Kate — which didn’t happen — was really, really difficult and something that . . . I think that’s when everything changed, really.
Oprah: You say the narrative with Kate, it didn’t happen. So, specifically, did you make Kate cry?
Meghan: No.
Oprah: So, where did that come from?
Meghan: (Sighs)
Oprah: Was there a situation where she might have cried? Or she could have cried?
Meghan: No, no. The reverse happened. And I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding. And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers and a note, apologising. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it. What was shocking was . . . what was that, six, seven months after our wedding?
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: That the reverse of that would be out in the world.
Oprah: The story came out six, seven months after it actually happened?
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: So, when you say . . .
Meghan: I would have never wanted that to come out about her ever, even though it had happened. I protected that from ever being out in the world.
Oprah: So, when you say the reverse happened, explain to us what you mean by that.
Meghan: A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining — yes, the issue was correct — about flower-girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings. And I thought, in the context of everything else that was going on in those days leading to the wedding, that it didn’t make sense to not be just doing whatever everyone else was doing, which was trying to be supportive, knowing what was going on with my dad and whatnot.
Oprah: This was a really big story at the time, that you made Kate cry. Now you’re saying you didn’t make Kate cry, Kate made you cry. So, we all want to know, what would make you cry? What . . . what were you going through? You were going through all of the anxiety that brides go through putting their wedding together and going through all of the issues with your father: Was he coming? Was he not coming?
Meghan: Mmm.
Oprah: And there was a confrontation over the . . . the dresses?
Meghan: It wasn’t a confrontation, and I actually don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologised.
Oprah: OK.
Meghan: And I’ve forgiven her.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do but that happened to me. And the people who were part of our wedding going to our comms team and saying, ‘I know this didn’t happen.’ I don’t have to tell them what actually happened.
Oprah: OK.
Meghan: But I can at least go on the record and say she didn’t make her cry. And they were all told the same . . .
Oprah: So, all the time the stories were out that you had made Kate cry . . . you knew all along, and people around you knew that that wasn’t true?
Meghan: Everyone in the institution knew it wasn’t true.
Oprah: So, why didn’t somebody just say that?
Meghan: That’s a good question.
Oprah: Hmm.
Meghan: I’m not sharing that piece about Kate in any way to be disparaging to her. I think it’s really important for people to understand the truth.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: But also I think, a lot of it, that was fed into by the media. And I would hope that she would have wanted that corrected, and maybe in the same way that the Palace wouldn’t let anybody else.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: Negate it, they wouldn’t let her, because she’s a good person. And I think so much of what I have seen play out is this idea of polarity, where if you love me, you don’t have to hate her. And if you love her, you don’t need to hate me.
Oprah: Mm-hmm. You know, there were several stories that compared headlines written about you to those written about Kate.
24
Meghan said the Queen was one of the first people she metCredit: Getty
Meghan: Mmm.
Oprah: Since you don’t read things, let me tell you what was said.
Meghan: OK.
Oprah: There were stories where Kate was being praised for holding her baby bump.
Meghan: Oh, gosh, have I done it since we’ve been sitting down?
Oprah: Yes, you’ve been doing it the whole time.
Meghan: Probably. OK.
Oprah: Kate was praised for cradling her baby bump, and the headline about you doing the same thing said, ‘Meghan can’t keep hands off her baby bump for pride or vanity’.
Meghan: What does it have to do with pride or vanity?
Oprah: Well, I’m just — I’m just telling you about the stories, OK?
Meghan: OK, I hear you.
Oprah: Then there was a whole online piece about this: ‘Kate eating avocados to help with morning sickness’.
Meghan: (Laughs) I heard — OK, I heard about the avocado one.
Oprah: But you were eating avocados . . .
Meghan: And fuelling murder, apparently.
Oprah: Wolfing down a fruit linked to water shortages, illegal deforestation and environmental devastation. There was, seems . . . there seems to be . . . there was a . . .
Meghan: That’s a really loaded piece of toast. (Laughter) I mean . . . you have to laugh at a certain point, because it’s just ridiculous.
Oprah: That’s good: ‘That’s a loaded piece of toast.’ It’s about deforestation and . . .
Meghan: Oh, man!
Oprah: Oh, wow! So, do you think there was a standard for Kate in general and a separate one for you? And if so, why?
Meghan: I don’t know why. I can see now what layers were at play. Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: And, again, they really seemed to want a narrative of a hero and a villain.
Oprah: Yeah. You came in as the first mixed-race person to marry into the family, and did that concern you in being able to fit in?
Meghan: Mmm.
Oprah: And did that concern you in being able to fit in? Did you think about that at all?
Meghan: I thought about it because they made me think about it.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: Right? But at the same time now, upon reflection, thank God all of those things were true. Thank God I had that life experience. Thank god I had known the value of working. My first job was when I was 13, at a frozen yoghurt shop called Humphrey Yogart.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
24
Meghan revealed Kate Middleton made her cry days before her weddingCredit: AP:Associated Press
Meghan: I’ve always worked. I’ve always valued independence. I’ve always been outspoken, especially about women’s rights. I mean, that’s the sad irony of the last four years . . . is I’ve advocated for so long for women to use their voice, and then I was silent.
Oprah: Were you silent? Or were you silenced?
Meghan: The latter.
Oprah: So, how does that work? Were you told by the comms people, or the, I don’t know, the institution? Were you told to keep silent? How were you told to handle tabloids or gossip? Were you . . . were you told to say nothing?
Meghan: Everyone from . . . everyone in my world was given very clear directive, from the moment the world knew Harry and I were dating, to always say, ‘No comment’. That’s my friends, my mom and dad.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: And we did.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: I did anything they told me to do — of course I did, because it was also through the lens of, ‘And we’ll protect you’. So, even as things started to roll out in the media that I didn’t see — but my friends would call me and say, ‘Meg, this is really bad’ — because I didn’t see it, I’d go, ‘Don’t worry. I’m being protected’.
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: I believed that. And I think that was . . . that was really hard to reconcile because it was only . . . it was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to under-stand that not only was I not being protected, but they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family but they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.
Oprah: So, are you saying you did not feel supported by the powers that be, be that The Firm, the monar-chy, all of them?
Meghan: It’s hard for people to distinguish the two because there’s . . . it’s a family business, right?
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: So, there’s the family, and then there’s the people that are running the institution. Those are two separate things. And it’s important to be able to compartmentalise that, because the Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me. I mean, we had one of our first joint engagements together. She asked me to join her, and I . . .
Oprah: Was this on the train?
Meghan: Yeah, on the train.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: We had breakfast together that morning, and she’d given me a beautiful gift, and I just really loved being in her company. And I remember we were in the car . . .
Oprah: Can you share what the gift was? Or . . .
Meghan: Yes. She gave me beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace. And we were in the car going between engagements, and she has a blanket that sits across her knees for warmth. And it was chilly, and she was like, ‘Meghan, come on’ and put it over my knees as well.
Oprah: Oh, nice.
Meghan: Right. Just moments of . . . and it made me think of my grand-mother, where she’s always been warm and inviting and . . . and really welcoming.
Oprah: So, OK, so she made you feel welcomed?
Meghan: Yes.
Oprah: Did you feel welcomed by everyone? It seemed like you and Kate . . . at the Wimbledon game where you were going to watch a friend play tennis . . .
Meghan: (Laughs)
24
Meghan, pictured while pregnant in March 2019, said she was silenced when she started dating HarryCredit: Splash News
Oprah: Was it what it looked like? You are two sisters-in-law out there in the world, getting to know each other. Was she helping you, embracing you into the family, helping you adjust?
Meghan: I think everyone welcomed me.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: And, yeah, when you say, ‘Was it what it looked like?’, my under-standing and my experience of the past four years is it’s nothing like what it looks like. It’s nothing like what it looks like. And I . . . and I remember so often people within The Firm would say, ‘Well, you can’t do this because it’ll look like that. You can’t’. So, even, ‘Can I go and have lunch with my friends?’ ‘No, no, no, you’re oversaturated, you’re every-where, it would be best for you to not go out to lunch with your friends’. I go, ‘Well, I haven’t . . . I haven’t left the house in months’.
I mean, there was a day that one of the members of the family, she came over, and she said, ‘Why don’t you just lay low for a little while, because you are everywhere right now’. And I said, ‘I’ve left the house twice in four months. I’m everywhere, but I am nowhere’. And from that standpoint, I continued to say to people, ‘I know there’s an obsession with how things look, but has anyone talked about how it feels? Because right now, I could not feel lonelier’.
Oprah: Hmm. You were feeling lonely, even though your prince . . . you’re in love, you’re with him.
Meghan: I’m not lonely . . . I wasn’t lonely with him.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: There were moments that he had to work or he had to go away, there’s moments in the middle of the night. And so, there was very little that I was allowed to do.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: And so, yeah, of course that breeds loneliness when you’ve come from such a full life or when you’ve come from freedom. I think the easiest way that now people can understand it is what we’ve all gone through in lockdown.
Oprah: Yeah, well, everybody can certainly relate now.
(Cuts to footage of interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby in South Africa in October, 2019)
Meghan: . . . asked if I’m OK, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.
Bradby: And the answer is, would it be fair to say, ‘Not really OK’, as in it’s really been a struggle?
Meghan: Yes.
(Back to Oprah)
Oprah: Well, I would have to say, in South Africa, when the reporter stopped and asked, ‘Are you OK . . ?’
Meghan: Mmm.
Oprah: And, whooo, we all felt that. Why did that question strike such a nerve? What was going on with you, internally at that time?
Meghan: That was the last day of the tour. You know, those tours are . . . I’m sure they have beautiful pictures and it looks vibrant, and all of that is true. It’s also really exhausting. So, I was fried, and I think it just hit me so hard because we were making it look like every-thing was fine. I can understand why people were really surprised to see that there was pain there.
24
She said she was told she would be protected from the mediaCredit: Reuters
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: Because we were doing our job. Our job was to be on and to smile. And so, when he asked me that, I guess I had felt that it had never occurred to anyone that I, that I wasn’t OK, and that I had really been suffering. And I had known for a long time and had been asking the institution for help for quite a long time.
Oprah: Help for what?
Meghan: After we had gotten back from our Australia tour — which was about a year before that — and we talked about when things really started to turn, when I knew we weren’t being protected. And it was during that part of my pregnancy, especially, that I started to understand what our continued reality was going to look like.
Oprah: What kind of protection did you want that you feel you didn’t receive?
Meghan: I mean, they would go on the record and negate the most ridiculous story for anyone, right? I’m talking about things that are super-artificial and inconsequential. But the narrative about, you know, making Kate cry, I think was the beginning of a real character assassination. And they knew it wasn’t true. And I thought, well, if they’re not going to kill things like that, then what are we going to do?
It had never occurred to anyone that I wasn’t OK…I was really suffering, and asked for help.
Meghan: Separate from that, and what was happening behind closed doors was, you know, we knew I was pregnant. We now know it’s Archie, and it was a boy. We didn’t know any of that at the time. We can just talk about it as Archie now. And that was when they were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince or a princess — not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol — and that he wasn’t going to receive security.
Oprah: What?
Meghan: It was really hard.
Oprah: What do you mean?
Meghan: He wasn’t going to receive security. This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy, where I’m going, ‘Hold on a second’.
Oprah: That your son — and Harry, Prince Harry’s son was not going to receive security?
Meghan: That’s right, I know.
Oprah: How . . . but how does that work?
Meghan: How does that work? It’s like, ‘No, no, no. Look, because if he’s not going to be a prince, it’s like, OK, well, he needs to be safe, so we’re not saying don’t make him a prince or a princess — whatever it’s going to be . . . ‘But if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect their protec-tion, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder. You’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe’.
Oprah: So, how do they explain to you that your son, the grandson, the great-grandson of the Queen . . .
Meghan: Mm-hmm.
24
Meg shocked the world when she admitted she was struggling in an interview with ITV’s Tom BradbyCredit: ITV
Oprah: . . . is not going to have . . . he wasn’t going to be a prince? How did they tell you that? And what reasons did they give? And then say, ‘And so, therefore, you’re not . . . you don’t need protection’.
Meghan: There’s no explanation.
Oprah: Hmm.
Meghan: There’s no version. I mean, that’s the other piece of that . . .
Oprah: Who tells you that?
Meghan: I heard a lot of it through Harry and then other parts of it through conversations with . . .
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: . . . family members. And it was a decision that they felt was appropriate. And I thought, well . . .
Oprah: Was the title . . . was him being called a prince, Archie being called a prince, was that important to you?
Meghan: If it meant he was going to be safe, then, of course. All the grandeur surrounding this stuff is an attachment that I don’t personally have, right? I’ve been a waitress, an actress, a princess, a duchess. I’ve always just still been Meghan, right? So, for me, I’m clear on who I am, independent of all that stuff. And the most important title I will ever have is Mom. I know that.
Meghan: But the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be . . . You know, the other piece of that conversation is, there’s a convention — I forget if it was George V or George VI convention — that when you’re the grandchild of the monarch, so when Harry’s dad becomes king, automatically Archie and our next baby would become prince or princess, or whatever they were going to be.
Oprah: So, for you, it’s about protection and safety, not so much as what the . . . what the title means to the world.
Meghan: That’s a huge piece of it, but, I mean, but . . .
Oprah: . . . and that having the title gives you the safety and protection?
Meghan: Yeah, but also it’s not their right to take it away.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: Right? And so, I think even with that convention I’m talking about, while I was pregnant, they said they want to change the convention for Archie.
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: Well, why?
Oprah: Did you get an answer?
Meghan: No.
Oprah: You still don’t have an answer?
Meghan: No.
Oprah: You know, we had heard — the world, those of us out here reading the things or hearing the things — that it was you and Harry who didn’t want Archie to have a prince title. So, you’re telling me that is not true?
Meghan: No, and it’s not our decision to make, right?
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: . . . even though I have a lot of clarity on what comes with the titles, good and bad — and from my experience, a lot of pain.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: I, again, wouldn’t wish pain on my child, but that is their birthright to then make a choice about.
Oprah: OK, so it feels to me like things started to change when you and Harry decided that you were not going to take the picture that had been a part of the tradition for years and . . .
Meghan: We weren’t asked to take a picture. That’s also part of the spin, that was really damaging. I thought, ‘Can you just tell them the truth? Can you say to the world you’re not giving him a title, and we want to keep him safe, and that if he’s not a prince, then it’s not part of the tradition? Just tell people, and then they’ll understand?’
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: But they wouldn’t do that.
Oprah: But you were . . . you both, obviously, were aware that had been a part of the tradition? And there was a . . . was there a specific reason why you didn’t want to be a part of that tradition? I think many people interpreted that as you were both saying, ‘We’re going to do things our way. We’re going to do things a different way’.
Meghan: That’s not it at all. I mean, I think what was really hard . . . so, picture, now that you know what was going on behind the scenes, right? There was a lot of fear surrounding it. I was very scared of having to offer up our baby, knowing that they weren’t going to be kept safe.
24
She said ‘I was fried, and I think it just hit me because we were making it look like everything was fine’Credit: BackGrid
Oprah: You certainly must have had some conversations with Harry about it and have your own suspicions as to why they didn’t want to make Archie a prince. What are . . . what are those thoughts? Why do you think that is? Do you think it’s because of his race?
Meghan: (Sighs)
Oprah: And I know that’s a loaded question, but . . .
Meghan: But I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time . . . so we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.
Oprah: What?
Meghan: And . . .
Oprah: Who . . . who is having that conversation with you? What?
Meghan: So . . .
Oprah: There is a conversation . . . hold on. Hold up. Hold up. Stop right now.
Meghan: There were . . . there were several conversations about it.
Oprah: There’s a conversation with you . . ?
Meghan: With Harry.
Oprah: About how dark your baby is going to be?
Meghan: Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.
Oprah: Whoo. And you’re not going to tell me who had the conversation?
Meghan: I think that would be very damaging to them.
Oprah: OK. So, how . . . how does one have that meeting?
There were conversations …about no security, no title… and how dark his skin might be when he’s born.
Meghan: That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him. And I think . . .
Oprah: Whoa.
Meghan: It was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations.
Oprah: Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?
Meghan: I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but that — if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right? Especially when — look, I — the Commonwealth is a huge part of the monarchy, and I lived in Canada, which is a Commonwealth country, for seven years. But it wasn’t until Harry and I were together that we started to travel through the Commonwealth, I would say 60 per cent, 70 per cent of which is people of colour, right?
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: And growing up as a woman of colour, as a little girl of colour, I know how important representation is. I know how you want to see someone who looks like you in certain positions.
Oprah: Obviously.
Meghan: Even Archie. Like, we read these books, and now he’s been — there’s one line in one that goes, ‘If you can see it, you can be it’. And he goes, ‘You can be it!’ And I think about that so often, especially in the context of these young girls, but even grown women and men who, when I would meet them in our time in the Commonwealth, how much it meant to them to be able to see someone who looks like them . . .
24
Meghan and Harry, who introduced Archie in May 2019, said there were concerns about how dark their baby’s skin would beCredit: AFP
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: . . . in this position. And I could never understand how it wouldn’t be seen as an added benefit . . .
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: . . . and a reflection of the world today. At all times, but especially right now, to go — ‘how inclusive is that, that you can see someone who looks like you in this family, much less one who’s born into it?’
(Oprah narrates) When Meghan joined the Royal Family in 2018, she became the target of unrelenting, pervasive attacks. Racist abuse online aimed at Meghan Markle. There were undeniable racist overtones. This stands apart from the kind of coverage we’ve seen of any other royal.
There was constant criticism, blatant sexist and racist remarks by British tabloids and internet trolls. We have seen the racism towards her play out in real time. Referring to her as ‘straight outta Compton’. The daily onslaught of vitriol and condemnation from the UK Press became overwhelming and, in Meghan’s words, ‘almost unsurvivable’. (Back to Oprah)
Oprah: You’d said in a podcast that it became ‘almost unsurvivable’, and that struck me, because it sounds like you were in some kind of mental trouble. What was actually going on? ‘Almost unsurvivable’ sounds like there was a breaking point.
Meghan: Yeah, there was. I just didn’t see a solution. I would sit up at night, and I was just, like, I don’t understand how all of this is being churned out. And, again, I wasn’t seeing it, but it’s almost worse when you feel it through the expression of my mom or my friends, or them calling me crying, just, like, ‘Meg, they’re not protecting you’. And I realised that it was all happening just because I was breathing.
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: And, look, I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry, especially, because I know how much loss he’s suffered. But I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it. And I . . . I just didn’t . . . I just didn’t want to be alive any more. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember — I remember how he just cradled me. And I was — I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that, ‘I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere’. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution. And I called . . .
Oprah: So the institution is never a person. Or is it a series of people?
Meghan: No, it’s a person.
Oprah: It’s a person.
Meghan: It’s several people. But I went to one of the most senior people just to . . . to get help. And that — you know, I share this, because there’s so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help. And I know, personally, how hard it is to not just voice it, but when you voice it, to be told no.
Oprah: Whoo.
Meghan: And so, I went to human resources, and I said, ‘I just really — I need help’. Because in my old job, there was a union, and they would protect me. And I remember this conversation like it was yesterday, because they said, ‘My heart goes out to you, because I see how bad it is, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee of the institution’.
Oprah: Mmm.
24
They refused to name who had ‘those conversations’Credit: PA:Press Association/PA Images
Meghan: This wasn’t a choice. This was emails and begging for help, saying very specifically, ‘I am concerned for my mental welfare’. And people going, ‘Oh, yes, yes, it’s disproportionately terrible what we see out there to anyone else’. But nothing was ever done, so we had to find a solution.
Oprah: Wow! ‘I don’t want to be alive any more,’ that’s . . .
Meghan: I thought it would have solved everything for everyone, right?
Oprah: So, were you thinking of harming yourself? Were you having suicidal thoughts?
Meghan: Yes. This was very, very clear.
Oprah: Wow.
Meghan: Very clear and very scary. And, you know, I didn’t know who to even turn to in that. And one of the people that I reached out to, who’s continued to be a friend and confidant, was one of my husband’s mom’s best friends, one of Diana’s best friends. Because it’s, like, who else could understand what’s . . .what it’s actually like on the inside?
Oprah: Did you ever think about going to a hospital? Or is that possible, that you can check yourself in some place?
Meghan: No, that’s what I was asking to do.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: You can’t just do that. I couldn’t, you know, call an Uber to the palace.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: You couldn’t just go. You couldn’t. I mean, you have to understand, as well, when I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver’s licence, my keys. All that gets turned over. I didn’t see any of that any more.
Oprah: Well, the way you’re describing this, it . . . it’s like you were trapped and couldn’t get help, even though you’re on the verge of suicide. That’s what you are describing. That’s what I’m hearing.
Meghan: Yes.
Oprah: And that would be an accurate interpretation, yes?
Meghan: That’s the truth.
Oprah: That’s the truth.
Meghan: You know, and if you think about . . . it was one of the things that . . . it stills haunts me is this photograph that someone had sent me. We had to go to an official event. We had to go to this event at the Royal Albert Hall, and a friend said, ‘I know you don’t look at pictures, but, oh, my God, you guys look so great . . .’
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: . . . and sent it to me. And I zoomed in, and what I saw was the truth of what that moment was, because right before we had to leave for that, I had just had that conversation with Harry that morning, and it was the next day that I talked to the institution.
Oprah: You had the conversation ‘I don’t want to be alive any more’?
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: Whoo.
Meghan: No, and it was . . . it wasn’t even, ‘I don’t want to’.
Oprah: And then, you . . ?
Meghan: It was like, ‘These are the thoughts that I’m having in the middle of the night that are very clear . . .’
Oprah: Yes, clarification.
Meghan: ‘. . . and I’m scared, because this is very real. This isn’t some abstract idea. This is methodical, and this is not who I am’. But we had to go to this event, and I remember him saying, ‘I don’t think you can go’. And I said, ‘I can’t be left alone’.
Oprah: Because you were afraid of what you might do to yourself?
Meghan: And we went, and that . . .
Oprah: I’m so sorry to hear that.
Meghan: . . . and that picture, if you zoom in, what I see is how tightly his knuckles are gripped around mine. You can see the whites of our knuckles, because we are smiling and doing our job, but we’re both just trying to hold on. And every time that those lights went down in that Royal Box, I was just weeping, and he was gripping my hand.
24
Pregnant Meghan was pictured at the Albert Hall in 2019 on the day she said she felt like taking her lifeCredit: PA:Press Association
Oprah: Wow.
Meghan: And then, it was, ‘OK, intermission’s coming, the lights are about to come on, everyone’s looking at us again’, and you have to just be on again.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: And that’s, I think, so important for people to remember is you have no idea what’s going on for someone behind closed doors. You have no idea. Even the people that smile the biggest smiles and shine the brightest lights, it seems, to have compassion for what’s actually potentially going on.
Oprah: I know. The public is looking at you. And to think that you, earlier in the day, had said to Harry that you didn’t want to be alive any more.
Meghan: Yeah. And just hours before, just sitting on the . . . the steps in our cottage . . .
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: . . . just sitting there and then going, ‘ok, well, go upstairs and put your make-up bag in your sink and try to pull yourself together’.
Oprah: Nobody should have to go through that.
Meghan: And, you know, Harry and I are working on this mental health series for Apple, and we — yes, so — we, we, we hear a lot of these stories. Nobody should have to go through that. It takes so much courage to admit that you need help.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: It takes so much courage to voice that. And as I said, I was ashamed. I’m supposed to be stronger than that.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: I don’t want to put more on my husband’s shoulders. He’s carrying the weight of the world. I don’t want to bring that to him. I bring solutions. To admit that you need help, to admit how dark of a place you’re in.
Oprah: You’ve said some pretty shocking things here, revealing . . .
Meghan: I wasn’t planning to say anything shocking.
Oprah: OK.
Meghan: I’m just telling you what’s happened.
Oprah: OK.
Meghan: I’m sorry if it’s shocked you! It’s been a lot.
Oprah: I’m a little shocked.
Meghan: It’s been a lot.
Oprah: How do you feel about the palace hearing you speak your truth today? Are you afraid of a backlash or their reaction?
Meghan: I mean, I think I’m not going to live my life in fear. You know, I think so much of it is said with an understanding of just truth.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: But I think, to answer your question, I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: That at a certain point, you’re going to go, ‘But, you guys, someone just tell the truth’. And if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, I’ve lost . . . there’s a lot that’s been lost already.
Oprah: Mmm.
24
Now she is expecting her second child and says she knows life is worth living
Meghan: And I grieve a lot. I mean, I’ve lost my father. I lost a baby. I nearly lost my name. I mean, there’s the loss of identity. But I’m still standing, and my hope for people in the takeaway from this is to know that there’s another side.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: To know that life is worth living.
Oprah: OK. I’m so glad you see that now. We are going to take a break, y’all, and Harry’s going to join us.
Meghan: (Laughter)
(Ads and back to Oprah)
Oprah: So, hi.
Harry: Hello.
Oprah: Thanks for joining us.
Harry: Thanks for having me.
Oprah: You’ve been watching on the side, yeah?
Harry: Some of it.
Oprah: Yes. I want to say, first of all, let’s say congratulations . . .
Harry: Thank you.
Oprah: . . . for the new addition to your family. Meghan said she wanted to wait until you were here to tell us, is it a boy or is it a girl?
Meghan: You can tell her.
Harry: No, go for it.
Meghan: No, no.
Harry: It’s a girl.
Oprah: (Squeals)
Meghan: It’s a girl.
Harry: Yes!
Oprah: You’re going to have a daughter. Wow.
Meghan: It’s a girl.
Oprah: When you realised that and saw it on the ultrasound, what . . . what . . . what was your first thought?
Harry: Amazing. Just grateful, like any — to have any child, any one or any two would have been amazing. But to have a boy and then a girl, you know, what more can you ask for? But now, you know, now we — we’ve got our family. We’ve got, you know, the four of us and our two dogs, and it’s great.
Oprah: Done. Done? Two is it?
Harry: Done.
Meghan: Two is it.
Oprah: Two is it.
Meghan: Two is it.
Oprah: And when’s the baby due?
Meghan: In summertime.
Oprah: This summertime?
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: So, you all have been living in sunny California now for . . .
Meghan: Since March.
Oprah: Since March, OK.
(Oprah narrates) In late 2019, Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK And moved to Canada. The couple says they chose Canada, a commonwealth of Britain, with the intention of continuing to serve the Queen. After their move, Harry and Meghan say security normally provided by the Royal Family was cut off. By March 2020, just days before the Covid lockdown began, Meghan, Harry and Archie relocated to Los Angeles, where media mogul Tyler Perry offered them his home as a temporary refuge. He also provided security.
Three months later they bought their own home and settled in the Santa Barbara area. Last spring, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex created their own foundation and media content company called Archewell.
24
In late 2019 Harry and Meghan left the UK and moved to CanadaCredit: BackGrid
Oprah: And so you stayed at Tyler Perry’s house for several months.
Harry: Three months, I believe.
Meghan: Yeah, because we didn’t have a plan. We needed . . . we needed a house and he offered security as well, so it gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we are going to do.
Harry: The biggest concern was that while we were in Canada, in someone else’s house, I then got told at short notice security was going to be removed. By this point, courtesy of the Daily Mail, the world knew exact . . . our exact location. So suddenly it dawned on me, ‘Hang on a second. The borders could be closed. We’re going to have our security removed. Who knows how long lockdown’s going to be? The world knows where we are. It’s not safe. It’s not secure’.
Meghan: Well, and also . . .
Harry: We probably need to get out of here.
Oprah: So, what security did you have at the time that was going to be removed?
Harry: We had our UK security.
Oprah: So you got word from overseas?
Harry: Yeah.
Oprah: That ‘we’re taking away your security’. Why were they doing that?
Harry: Their justification is a change in status, of which I pushed back and said, ‘Well, is there a change of threat or risk?’ And after many weeks of waiting, eventually I got the confirmation that no, the risk and threat hasn’t changed but due to our change of status, (by) which we would no longer be official working members of the Royal Family, they’re obviously . . . what we proposed was sort of part-time, or at least as much as we could do without being fully consumed because of, I think, what most of you guys have covered already.
Meghan: We actually didn’t talk about that. It’s been so spun in the wrong direction, as though we quit, we walked away, we . . . all the conversations of the two years before we finally announced it.
(Oprah narrates) In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced they would step back as senior members of the Royal Family. The swiftness with which they’ve taken this decision, only 18 months after they got married, has taken everyone by surprise, from the Queen all the way down.
The bombshell news sparked a worldwide media frenzy dubbed ‘Megxit’ by the British Press. Many reporters and viral posts blamed Meghan for the decision. In an official statement, Queen Elizabeth said: ‘Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.’ (Back to Oprah)
Oprah: OK, let me ask the question.
Meghan: Yeah?
Oprah: So, over a year ago, you shocked the world. You announced you were stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family. And then the media reported that you had ‘blindsided’ the Queen, your grandmother. So here’s a time to set the record straight. What was the tipping point that made you decide you had to leave?
Harry: Yeah, it was desperate. I went to all the places which I thought I should go to, to ask for help. We both did.
Meghan: Mm-hmm.
Harry: Separately and together.
Oprah: So you left because you were asking for help and couldn’t get it?
Harry: Yeah, basically. But we never left.
Meghan: We never left the family and we only wanted to have the same type of role that exists, right? There’s senior members of the family and then there are non-senior members. And we said, specifically, ‘We’re stepping back from senior roles to be just like several . . .’ I mean, I can think of so many right now who are all . . . they’re royal highnesses, prince or princess, duke or duchess . . . who earn a living, live on palace grounds, can support the Queen if and when called upon. So we weren’t reinventing the wheel here. We were saying, ‘OK, if this isn’t working for everyone, we’re in a lot of pain, you can’t provide us with the help we need, we can just take a step back. We can do it in a Commonwealth country’. We suggested New Zealand, South Africa . . .
Harry: Take a breath.
Meghan: Canada.
Oprah: Yeah. And you wanted to take a breath from what specifically? Let’s be clear.
24
By March 2020, just days before lockdown, the family had relocated to LACredit: The Mega Agency
Harry: From this . . . this constant barrage. My biggest concern was history repeating itself and I’ve said that before on numerous occasions, very publicly. And what I was seeing was history repeating itself. But more, perhaps. Or definitely far more dangerous because then you add race in and you add social media in. And when I’m talking about history repeating itself, I’m talking about my . . . my mother.
Harry: When you can see something happening in the same kind of way, anybody would ask for help, ask the system of which you are a part of — especially when you know there’s a relationship there — that they could help and share some truth or call . . . call the dogs off, whatever you want to call it. So to receive no help at all and to be told continuously, ‘This is how it is. This is just how it is. We’ve all been through it’ . . . and I think the biggest turning point for me was the . . . and it didn’t take very long. It was actually right at the beginning . . . was, OK, this union . . . us, me, being . . . having a girlfriend was going to be a thing. Of course it was. But I . . . I never expected, or I never thought . . .
Oprah: Because she was mixed race?
Harry: No, just . . . just the two of us to start with. I hadn’t really thought about the mixed-race piece because I thought, well . . . well, firstly, you know, I’ve spent many years doing the work and doing my own learning. But my upbringing in the system, of which I was brought up in and what I’ve been exposed to, it wasn’t . . . I wasn’t aware of it to start with. But, my god, it doesn’t take very long to suddenly become aware of it.
Oprah: Yeah, because you said you really weren’t aware of unconscious bias and all that that represents . . .
Harry: No.
Oprah: Until you met Meghan.
Harry: Yeah. You know, as sad as it is to say, it takes living in her shoes — in this instance, for a day, or those first eight days — to see where it was going to go and how far they were going to take it.
Oprah: And get away with it?
Harry: And get away with it and be so blatant about it. That’s the bit that shocked me. This is . . . we’re talking about the UK Press here, right? And this . . . the UK is my home. That is . . . that is where I was brought up. So yes, I’ve got my own relationship that goes back a long way with the media. I asked for calm from the British tabloids — once as a boyfriend, once as a husband and once as a father.
Oprah: So when I ask the question, ‘Why did you leave?’ the simplest answer is . . ?
Harry: Lack of support and lack of understanding.
Oprah: So, I want clarity. Was the move about getting away from the UK Press? Because the Press, as you know, is everywhere. Or was the move because you weren’t getting enough support from The Firm?
Harry: It was both.
Oprah: Both.
Harry: Yeah.
Oprah: Did you blindside the Queen?
Harry: No. I’ve never blindsided my grandmother. I have too much respect for her.
Oprah: So where did that story come from?
Harry: I hazard a guess that it probably could have come from within the institution.
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: So, I remember when you talked to her several times about this over . . .
Harry: Two years.
Meghan: Two years. But even the night before, days before, with the statement coming out, I remember that conversation.
Oprah: So, how do you know she wasn’t blindsided? Because the way it was presented through the Press is that suddenly you made this announcement. She didn’t know it was coming.
24
Harry insisted the Queen wasn’t blindsided by MegxitCredit: AFP or licensors
Harry: No, I . . . when we were in Canada, I had three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father and — before he stopped taking my calls — and he said, ‘Can you put this all in writing what your plan is?’
Oprah: Your father asked you to put it in writing.
Prince Harry: Yeah. He asked me to put it in writing and I put all the specifics in there, even the fact that we were planning on putting the announcement out on January 7.
Oprah: So you just said that your dad stopped taking your calls. Why did he stop taking your calls?
Harry: Because I took matters in . . . by that point, I took matters into my own hands. It was like, ‘I need to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s gotten to this point but I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s and for Archie’s as well’. Because I could see where this was headed.
Meghan: To have sat back and not said that for so long, it just feels really . . .
Oprah: To have been silenced all this time.
Meghan: Yeah.
Harry: Been three and a half, four years. Or longer, actually.
Meghan: We were saying . . . gosh, it must have been years ago we were sitting in Nottingham (Nottingham Cottage, where Harry lived as a bachelor and when first married) . . . I was sitting in Nottingham Cottage and The Little Mermaid came on. Now, who watches . . . who as an adult really watches The Little Mermaid? But it came on and I was like, ‘Well, I’m just here all the time, so I may as well watch this’. And I went, ‘Oh, my god! She falls in love with the prince and because of that, she has to lose her voice’.
Oprah: Mmm.
Meghan: But by the end, she gets her voice back.
Oprah: Gets her voice back.
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: And this is what happened here? You feel like you got your voice back?
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: So, you . . . you’re stepping back out of frustration and you just need to get out. And, you know, you heard Meghan share with us all . . .
Harry: Mm-hmm.
Oprah: The moment that she came to you, had the courage enough to say out loud . . .
Harry: Mm-hmm.
My father said: Can you put your plan in writing? Then he stopped taking my calls. I’d taken matters into my own hands.
Oprah: ‘I don’t want to live any more.’
Harry: Mm-hmm.
Oprah: And you didn’t know what to do?
Harry: I had no idea what to do. I wasn’t . . . I wasn’t prepared for that. I went . . . I went to a very dark place as well. But I . . . I wanted to be there for her and . . .
Meghan: Also, we didn’t leave right that minute, right?
Harry: I was terrified.
Meghan: We still . . . that’s almost a year after.
Oprah: So then did you tell other people in the family, ‘I have to get help for her. We need help for her’?
Harry: No. That’s just not a conversation that would be had.
Oprah: Why?
Harry: I guess I was ashamed of admitting it to them.
Oprah: Oh.
Harry: And I don’t know whether . . . I don’t know whether they’ve had the same . . . whether they’ve had the same feelings or thoughts. I have no idea. And it’s a very trapping environment that a lot of them are stuck in.
Oprah: You were ashamed of admitting that Meghan needed help?
Harry: Yeah.
Oprah: Mmm.
Harry: I didn’t have anyone to turn to.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Harry: You know, we’ve got some very close friends that . . . that have been with us through this whole process but for the family, they very much have this mentality of, ‘This is just how it is. This is how it’s meant to be. You can’t change it. We’ve all been through it’.
Oprah: ‘We’ve all been through the pressure. We’ve all been through being exploited’?
Harry: Yes. But what was different for me was the race element, because now it wasn’t just about her, but it is about what she represents. And therefore it wasn’t just affecting my wife. It was affecting so many other people as well. And that’s . . . that was the trigger for me to really engage in those conversations with Palace . . . senior Palace staff and with my family to say, ‘Guys, this is not going to end well’.
Oprah: And when you say ‘end well’, what did you mean?
24
He said he spoke to his father and grandmother multiple times before they broke the newsCredit: Getty
Harry: For anyone it’s not going to end well. Because the way that I saw it was there was a way of doing things but for us — for this union and the specifics around her race — there was an opportunity, many opportunities, for my family to show some public support.
Oprah: Mmm.
Harry: And I guess one of the most telling parts — and the saddest parts, I guess — was over 70 Members of Parliament, female Members of Parliament, both Conservative and Labour — came out and called out the . . . the colonial undertones of articles and headlines written about
Meghan. Yet no one from my family ever said anything over those three years. And that . . . that hurts. But I also am acutely aware of where my family stand and how scared they are of the tabloids turning on them.
Oprah: Turning on them for what? They’re the Royal Family.
Harry: Yes, but it’s . . . there is this invisible . . . what’s termed or referred to as the ‘invisible contract’ behind closed doors between the institution and the tabloids, the UK tabloids.
Oprah: How so?
Harry: Well, it is . . . to simplify it, it’s a case of if you . . . if you as a family member are willing to wine, dine and give full access to these reporters, then you will get better press.
Oprah: What do you care about better press if you’re royal?
Harry: I think everyone needs to have some compassion for . . . for them in that situation, right? There is a level of control by fear that has existed for generations. I mean, generations.
Oprah: But who’s controlling whom? It’s the institution. From our point of view, just the public. It’s . . .
Harry: Yeah but the institution survives based on that, on that perception. So actually, if you don’t . . .
Oprah: So you’re saying there’s this relationship that Meghan was speaking of . . . it’s like, symbiotic. One lives or thrives because the other exists.
Meghan: Mmm.
Oprah: That’s what you’re saying.
Harry: That’s the . . . that’s the idea.
Meghan: Well, see, I think there’s a reason that these tabloids have holiday parties at the Palace. They’re hosted by the Palace, the tabloids are. You know, there is a construct that’s at play there. And because from the beginning of our relationship, they were so attacking and inciting so much racism, really, it changed our . . . the risk level, because it went . . . it wasn’t just catty gossip. It was bringing out a part of people that was racist in how it was charged. And that changed the threat. That changed the level of death threats. That changed everything.
Oprah: So, tell me this: You said a moment ago, it hurts that your family has never acknowledged the role that racism played in here. Did you think she was well received in the beginning?
Harry: Yes. Far better than I expected. (Laughter) But, you know, my grandmother has been amazing throughout. You know, my father, my brother, Kate and . . . and all the rest of the family, they were, they were really welcoming. But it really changed after the Australia tour, after our South Pacific tour.
Meghan: That’s when we announced we were pregnant with Archie. That was our first tour.
Harry: But it was also . . . it was also the first time that the family got to see how incredible she is at the job. And that brought back memories.
Oprah: I’m thinking, because I watch The Crown OK? I watch The Crown. Do you all watch The Crown?
Meghan: (Laughs)
Harry:: I’ve watched some of it. You’ve watched some of it?
Meghan: I’ve watched some of it.
Oprah: But there’s this . . . I think it was the fourth season, actually, where there is an Australian tour. So, is that what you’re talking about? It brought back memories of that? The Australian tour.
24
Harry said he was ‘trapped within the system’ until he met MeghanCredit: Getty
Harry: Yeah.
Oprah: Where your father and your mother went there, and your mother was bedazzling. So, are you saying that there were hints of jealousy?
Harry: Look, I just wish that we would all learn from the past. But to see the . . . to see how effortless it was for Meghan to come into the family so quickly in Australia and across New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, and just be able to connect with people in such a . . .
Oprah: But . . .
Harry: I know, I know, I know, I know. But it’s . . .
Oprah: Why, I mean, why wouldn’t everybody love that? Isn’t that what you want? You want her to come into the family and to, as the Queen said at one point, the way that Meghan had basically, not her words, been assimilated into the family.
Harry: Yeah, I think, you know, as we talked about, she was very much welcomed into the family, not just by the family, but by the world.
Oprah: Yeah.
Harry: Certainly by the Commonwealth. I mean, here you have one of the greatest assets to the Commonwealth that the family could have ever wished for.
Oprah: I just can’t . . . I’m kind of going back to this. So, then, you’re in Canada because you had stepped back. Your Firm says you’re no longer going to have protection. So, did you ask for that? Because did you want . . . were you trying to have it both ways? You wanted to step back but also keep your foot in royal business, it seems.
Harry: It’s interesting that you talk about it being, you know, ‘Have it both ways’ on the . . . on the security element. I never thought that I would have my security removed, because I was born into this position. I inherited the risk. So that was a shock to me. That was what completely changed the whole plan.
Oprah: So, that you as Prince Harry are going to have your security removed.
Meghan: Yeah. And I even . . . and I even wrote letters to his family saying, ‘Please, it’s very clear the protection of me or Archie is not a priority. I accept that. That is fine. Please keep my husband safe. I see the death threats. I see the racist propaganda. Please keep him safe. Please don’t pull his security and announce to the world when he and we are most vulnerable’. And they said it’s just not possible.
Oprah: Mm-hmm. I think what we really have got to clear up here is because one of the stories that continues to live, either through rumours or social media, out in the world, is that you, Meghan, are the one who manipulated, calculated, and are responsible for this Megxit.
Meghan: Oh, my gosh. It’s amazing how they can use Meg for everything.
Oprah: Yes. There are even stories that you knew all along that this was going to happen. You went through the whole process, and it was all intentional to build your brand.
Meghan: Can you imagine how little sense that makes? I left my career, my life. I left everything because I love him, right? And our plan was to do this for ever.
Harry: Yes.
Meghan: Our plan . . . for me, I mean, I wrote letters to his family when I got there, saying, ‘I am dedicated to this. I’m here for you. Use me as you’d like’. There was no guidance, as well, right? There were certain things that you couldn’t do. But, you know, unlike what you see in the movies, there’s no class on how to . . . how to speak, how to cross your legs, how to be royal. There’s none of that training. That might exist for other members of the family. That was not something that was offered to me.
Oprah: So, nobody tells you anything?
Meghan: No.
Oprah: Nobody prepares you?
Meghan: Nobody even . . .
Harry: There’s . . .
Meghan: Sorry, but even down to, like, the National Anthem. No one thought to say, ‘Oh, you’re American. You’re not going to know that’. That’s me late at night, Googling how . . . what’s the National . . . I’ve got to learn this. I don’t want to embarrass them. I need to learn these 30 hymns for church. All of this is televised. We were doing the training behind the scenes, because I just wanted to make them proud.
Oprah: OK, but here’s the question: Do you think you would have left or ever stepped back were it not for Meghan?
Meghan: Hm.
Harry: No. The answer to your question is no.
Oprah: You would not have?
Harry: I wouldn’t have . . . I wouldn’t have been able to, because I myself was trapped as well. I didn’t see a way out.
Oprah: She felt trapped, you were trapped?
Harry: Yeah, I didn’t see a way out.
Oprah: But you’d this life, your whole life. This has been your life your whole life.
24
He claimed William and Charles are also trapped but ‘they don’t get to leave’Credit: Instagram
Harry: Yeah, but, you know, I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped.
Oprah: Mmm.
Harry: But the moment that I met Meg, and then our worlds sort of collided in the most amazing of ways, and then to see how . . .
Oprah: Please explain how you, Prince Harry, raised in a palace and a life of privilege — literally, a Prince . . . how you were trapped.
Harry: Trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are. My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave. And I have huge compassion for that.
Oprah: Well, OK, so the impression of the world — maybe it’s a false impression — is that, for all these years before Meghan, you were living your life as a royal, Prince Harry . . . the beloved Prince Harry and that you were enjoying that life. We didn’t get the impression that you were feeling trapped in that life.
Harry: Enjoying the life because there were photographs of me smiling while I was shaking hands and meeting people? Like, I’m sure you guys have covered some of that. That’s . . . that’s a part of the job. That’s a part of the role. That’s what’s expected. No matter who you are in the family, no matter what’s going on in your personal life, no matter what’s just happened, if the bikes roll up and the car rolls up, you’ve got to get dressed, you got to get in there. You wipe your tears away, shake off whatever you’re thinking about and you got to be on your A-game.
Oprah: Mm-hmm. What would you think your mum would say about this stepping back, this decision to step back from the Royal Family? How would she feel about this moment?
Harry: I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out, and very sad. But, ultimately, she’d . . . all she’d . . . all she’d ever want is for us to be happy.
Oprah: You wanted freedom from . . . from that life? You wanted freedom to make your own money. You wanted freedom to make deals with Netflix and Spotify. But you also wanted to serve the Queen?
Harry: Yeah, we didn’t want to . . . we didn’t want to give up, or we didn’t want to turn our backs on the associations and the people that we . . . that we’ve been supporting.
Meghan: But also, Oprah, it exists.
Harry: Yeah, it exists. But, also, the Netflix and the Spotify, they’re all . . . that was never part of the plan.
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: Because you didn’t have a plan?
Meghan: We didn’t have a plan.
Harry: We didn’t have a plan. That was suggested by somebody else by the point of where my family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford . . . afford security for us.
Oprah: Wait. Hold . . . hold up. Wait a minute. Your family cut you off?
Harry: Yeah, in the first half, the first quarter of 2020. But I’ve got what my mum left me, and, without that, we would not have been able to do this.
Oprah: OK.
Harry: So, you know, touching back on what you asked me, what my mum would think of this, I think she saw it coming. And I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process. And, you know, for me, I’m . . . I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side. Because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago, because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we had each other.
Oprah: What’s your relationship like now with your family?
Harry: I’ve spoken more to my grandmother in the last year than I have done for many, many years.
Oprah: Do you all have Zoom calls?
Harry: We did a couple of Zoom calls with Archie.
Meghan: Sometimes, yes, so they can see Archie.
Oprah: Yeah.
Harry: My grandmother and I have a really good relationship . . .
24
Harry said he thinks Diana would be angry ‘with how this has panned out’Credit: Getty
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Harry: . . . And an understanding. And I have a deep respect for her. She’s my Colonel-In-Chief, right? She always will be.
Oprah: Your relationship with your father? Is he taking your calls now?
Harry: Yeah. Yeah, he is. There’s a lot to work through there, you know? I feel really let down, because he’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like, and this is . . . and Archie’s his grandson. And . . . but, at the same time, you know, I, of course I will always . . . I will always love him, but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. And . . . and I will continue to . . . to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship. And, but they only know what they know, and that’s the thing. I’ve tried to . . .
Meghan: Or what they’re told.
Harry: Or what they’re told. And I’ve tried to educate them through the process that I have been educated.
Oprah: Because is it like being in a big royal bubble?
Harry: Yeah.
Oprah: Yeah. And your brother? Relationship? Much has been said about that.
Harry: Yeah, and much will continue to be said about that. You know, as I’ve said before, I love William to bits. He’s my brother. We’ve been through hell together. I mean, we have a shared experience. But we . . . you know, we’re on . . . we’re on different paths.
Oprah: Well, what is particularly striking is what Meghan shared with us earlier, is that no one wants to admit that there’s anything about race or that race has played a role in the trolling and the vitriol, and yet Meghan shared with us that there was a conversation with you about Archie’s skin tone.
Harry: Mm-hmm.
Oprah: What was that conversation?
Harry: That conversation I’m never going to share, but at the time . . . at the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked.
Oprah: Can you . . . can you tell us what the question was?
Harry: No. I don’t . . . I’m not comfortable with sharing that.
Oprah: OK.
Harry: But that was . . . that was right at the beginning, right?
Oprah: Like, what will the baby look like?
Harry: Yeah, what will the kids look like?
Oprah: What will the kids look like?
Harry: But that was right at the beginning, when she wasn’t going to get security, when members of my family were suggesting that she carries on acting, because there was not enough money to pay for her, and all this sort of stuff. Like, there was some real obvious signs before we even got married that this was going to be really hard.
Oprah: So, in conclusion, if you’d had the support, you’d still be there?
Harry: Without question.
Meghan: Yeah.
24
He said ‘I think she saw it coming, and I certainly felt her presence throughout this process’Credit: Getty
Harry: I’m sad that . . . that what’s happened has happened, but I know, and I’m comfortable in knowing, that we did everything that we could to make it work. And we did everything on the exit process the way that . . . the way that it should have been done.
Meghan: With as much respect.
Harry: With as much respect.
Meghan: And, oh, my God, we just did everything we could to . . . to protect them.
Oprah: So, what do you say to the people who say you came here, you made these multimillion-dollar deals and that you’re just money-grabbing royals?
Harry: First off, this was never the intention.
Oprah: Mm-hmm.
Meghan: Yeah.
Harry: And we’re certainly not complaining. We . . . our life is great now. We’ve got a beautiful house. We’ve got a beautiful . . . I’ve got a beautiful family. And the dogs . . . the dogs are really happy. But at the time, during Covid, the suggestion by a friend was, ‘What about streamers?’
Meghan: Yeah, we genuinely hadn’t thought about that before.
Harry: We hadn’t thought about it. So there were all sorts of different options. And, look, from my perspective, all I needed was enough money to be able to pay for security to keep my family safe.
Oprah: Mm. How will you use Archewell as a means of speaking to things that are important to you in the world?
Meghan: I think in creating . . . I mean, life is about storytelling, right? About the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we’re told, what we buy into. And . . . and for us to be able to have storytelling through a truthful lens, that hopefully is uplifting, is going to be great knowing how many people that can land with. And being able to give a voice to a lot of people that are under-represented and aren’t really heard.
Oprah: Any regrets?
Meghan: This morning, I woke up earlier than H and saw a note from someone on our team in the UK saying the Duke of Edinburgh had gone to the hospital.
Oprah: Yeah.
Meghan: But I just picked up the phone and I called the Queen just to check in.
Oprah: You check in?
Meghan: Just like, I would . . . you know . . . that’s what we do. It’s like, being able to default to not having to every moment go, ‘Is that appropriate?’
Oprah: Yeah.
Harry: For so many in my family, what they do is . . . there’s a level of control in it, right? Because they’re fearful of what the papers are going to say about them.
Oprah: Yeah.
Harry: Whereas with us, it was just, like, just be . . . just be yourself. Just be genuine. Just be authentic. Just go and do what it is. If you get it wrong, you get it wrong. If you get it right, you get it right.
(Oprah narrates) On February 19, 2021, Buckingham palace released a statement announcing it was agreed that Prince Harry and Meghan would not return as working members of the Royal Family. Harry and Meghan’s royal patronages and Prince Harry’s honorary military titles would be returned to the Queen. The Queen’s statement was released after our interview took place. (Back to Oprah)
Oprah: Your exit agreement with the Royal Family, it’s . . . that is coming up at the end of this month.
Harry: The decision is, I think. Yeah, I mean, the decision — what, as of last week, or whatever it was — is that they will be removing everything.
24
The Sussexes said they have no regrets about stepping backCredit: AFP or licensors
Oprah: Are you hurt by that decision?
Harry: I am hurt. But at the same time I completely respect my grandmother’s decision. I would still love for us to be able to continue to support those associations, albeit without the title or the role.
Oprah: Could you be as satisfied now, doing this through your own organisation, Archewell?
Meghan: Well, we . . . this is what we’re doing, right? We’re still doing it. We’re still going to always do the work. But I also think it’s important for you or everyone to know this decision that was made about patronages and all of that was before anyone knew that we were sitting down with you.
Harry: Yeah.
Meghan: I think that it’s . . . I can only imagine . . .
Oprah: I heard a story that you’re getting punished now. Those were being taken away because you did sit down with me.
Meghan: Yeah, but that was . . . those letters, those conversations, that was . . . that was finalised before anyone even knew that we were going to sit down. So that’s just not true.
Oprah: All right, tell me this. Harry, what delights you now in your everyday experience and the things that you actually cherish in your life here with Archie and Meghan?
Harry: This year has been crazy for everybody. But to have outdoor space where I can go for walks with Archie, and we can go for walks as a family and with the dogs, and we can go on hikes — we’ll go down to the beach, which is so close — all of these things are just . . . I guess, the highlight for me is sticking him on the back of the bicycle in his little baby seat and taking him on these bike rides, which is something I was never able to do when I was young. I can see him on the back and he’s got his arms out and he’s like, ‘Whoo!’ chatting, chatting, chatting, going, ‘Palm tree! House!’ and all this sort of stuff. And I do . . . I think to myself . . .
In some ways it’s just the beginning. Greater than any fairytale you’ve ever read…
Oprah: What’s his new favourite word? What’s his favourite word now?
Meghan: Oh my gosh, he’s on a roll. In the past couple weeks it has been hydrate, which is just hysterical.
Harry: But also, whenever everyone leaves the house, he’s like, ‘Drive safe’.
Meghan: ‘Drive safe’.
(Oprah laughs)
Harry: Which is really . . .
Meghan: He’s not even two yet!
Oprah: You said that your brother was trapped. You said that you love your brother and always will love your brother. You didn’t tell me what the relationship is now, though.
Harry: The relationship is space at the moment. And, you know, time heals all things, hopefully.
Oprah: Any regrets?
Harry: No. I mean . . . no, I think we’ve done . . . I’m really proud of us, you know? I’m so proud of . . . I’m so proud of my wife. Like, she safely delivered Archie during a period of time which was so cruel and so mean. And every single day, I was coming back from work, from London, I was coming back to my wife crying while breastfeeding Archie. That’s coming from someone who wasn’t reading anything. And as she touched on earlier, if she had read anything, she wouldn’t be here now. So we did what we had to do — and now we’ve got another little one on the way.
Meghan: I have one. My regret is believing them when they said I would be protected. I believed that. And I regret believing that because I think, ‘had I really seen that that wasn’t happening, I would have been able to do more’. But I think I wasn’t supposed to see it. I wasn’t supposed to know. And . . . and now, because we’re actually on the other side, we’ve actually not just survived but are thriving. You know, this . . . I mean, this is miracles. I . . . yeah, I think that all of those things that I was hoping for have happened . . . and this is in some ways just the beginning for us. You know, we’ve been through a lot. It’s felt like a lifetime. (Laughs.) A lifetime.
Oprah: So, your story with the prince does have a happy ending?
Meghan: It does.
Harry: Yeah.
Meghan: Yeah. (Laughs.) It really did.
Oprah: It has a happy ending because you made it so.
Meghan: Yeah, greater than any fairytale you’ve ever read.
Oprah: Greater than any fairytale.
Meghan: Yeah, yeah.
Oprah: What you’ve described here today — being trapped and not even being aware of it and all the things that had transpired, and then she comes into your life and then you’re doing therapy — do you think in some way she saved you?
Harry: Yeah. Without question. There was . . . there was a bigger purpose. There was other forces at play, I think, throughout this whole process. I’m the last person to think, ‘Ooh!’ You know? But it’s undeniable when these things have happened, where the overlap is. So yeah, she did. Without question she saved me.
Meghan: And I would . . . I would . . . I mean, I think that’s lovely. I would disagree. I think he saved all of us, right? He ultimately called it and was like, ‘We’ve got to find a way for us, for Archie’. And you made a decision that saved . . . certainly saved my life and saved all of us. But, you know, you need to want to be saved.
Oprah: Well, thank you for sharing your love story. We can’t wait for the big day some time this summer.
Meghan: Yes, indeed.
Oprah: Sometime this summer.
Meghan: Yeah.
Oprah: Thank you both for trusting me to share your story.
Meghan: Thank you for giving us the space to do it.
Harry: Yeah, thank you.
Oprah: This conversation doesn’t end here. There was so much more that we couldn’t fit into this special.
Body language expert reveals the hidden messages in Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview
GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk
IT has been a terrible week for a string of disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s pals and associates who have been exposed in a cache of newly unsealed court docs.
The splew of unsealed docs have exposed Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle and further detail of his depraved sexual crimes he committed alongside disgraced British socialised, Ghislaine MaxwellCredit: The Mega Agency
15
The new files reveal an alleged plot to blackmail Prince Andrew over his alleged sexual encounter with Virginia GiuffreCredit: Jae Donnelly
15
Former President Bill Clinton (pictured with Epstein and Maxwell) has also been dragged into the spotlight with allegations he likes girls ‘young’Credit: The Mega Agency
15
Giuiffre has alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and given to Andrew and ‘two of the world’s most respected politicians’Credit: PA
Delivered in several anticipated drops, the files have revealed the inner-workings of Epstein’s world – while dragging a sprinkling of previously unmentioned celebrities and politicians into the mix.
The docs have made public the lurid details of a string of sexual allegations made against Prince Andrew, former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, physicist Stephen Hawking and A-list celebrities.
1. Andrew, Clinton & Branson’s ‘sex tapes’
Epstein victim Sarah Ransome wrote emails to a reporter in 2016 claiming the duke, Bill Clinton and billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson were filmed having sex by Epstein on separate occasions.
READ MORE ON EPSTEIN DOCS
She later retracted the claims and told the New Yorker in 2019 “she had invented the tapes to draw attention to Epstein’s behaviour, and to make him believe that she had ‘evidence that would come out if he harmed me'”.
All of the above have always vehemently denied any wrongdoing over their association with Epstein and no tapes have ever emerged publicly.
A spokesman for Branson blasted the claims as “baseless and unfounded”.
2. Stephen Hawking’s ‘underage orgy’
The doc drop revealed an email that had been sent from Epstein to Maxwell that showed the billionaire asking her to “issue a reward” to any of Giuffre’s friends who “come forward and help prove her allegations are false”.
Among the allegations listed by Epstein in the email were a “Clinton dinner” and a claim that Stephen Hawking “participated in an underage orgy”.
In the message, Epstein suggested Giuffre had made claims about both the British scientist and former US President Bill Clinton.
The email read: “You can issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, acquaints, family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false.
In 2015, photos emerged showing Hawking, who died in 2018 aged 76, being hosted on Epstein’s private Caribbean island before he was first charged in 2006.
The internationally renowned physicist was pictured at a barbecue on Little St James, often referred to as Epstein’s “Paedo Island”.
He was part of a group of 21 scientists attending a conference in March 2006, which Epstein had funded.
3. Duke of York’s ‘underage orgy’
A woman named only as Jane Doe 3 alleged she was “forced” into sexual relations with “a member of the British Royal Family, Prince Andrew (a/k/a Duke of York)”.
In 2019, Clinton’s spokesman said he knew “nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to” and that the pair had not spoken “in over a decade”.
6. Giuffre ‘trafficked’ to Andrew and ‘two of world’s most respected politicians’
In an email exchange with journalist Sharon Churcher in May 2011, Giuffre said she was concerned about speaking out after Clinton had allegedly “threatened them not to write sex-trafficking articles” about Epstein.
In a follow up email, Churcher said it would be a “gamble” for Giuffre to not have more to say about how she was “sex-trafficked to PA [Prince Andrew] and other men including two of the world’s most respected politicians”.
The names of the two politicians in the email remain redacted.
In Giuffre’s deposition released on Tuesday, she alleged she had sex with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who passed away in September and another “prominent US politician” when she was 17.
Asked how many times she allegedly had sex with the unnamed official, she replied “twice that I can recall.”
7. Donald Trump’s sex with ‘many girls’
Ransome also claimed that “many girls” had sexual relations with former US president Donald Trump, including her friend who wasn’t named.
In an email written to a journalist in 2016 and filed in court papers, Ransome said: “She confided in me about her casual ‘friendship’ with Donald. Mr. Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her ‘pert nipples,'”.
The claims were also flagged by Dershowitz in his letter which attempted to prove the Epstein victim lacked credibility.
Provisional search terms used by lawyers to find relevant files on Maxwell’s computers were also disclosed in the documents.
Amongst the terms on a list were “Andrew”, “Prince”, “Royal”, “PA”, “Kensington”, “Duke” and “York”.
15
A picture of Ransome on Epstein’s island included in the newly unsealed files
15
Sarah Ransome doubled down on her previous sex tape claims this weekCredit: Netflix
15
She also alleged Epstein raped her ‘three times’ in a single dayCredit: AFP
9. Duke and Duchess of York ‘friends’ with Epstein
Epstein’s former housekeeper Juan Alessi claimed Andrew had “daily massages” while he stayed at the paedophile financier’s Florida home.
During his video-taped interview under oath in 2009, Alessi said Sarah, Duchess of York, only paid a short visit to Epstein, but the duke “spent weeks with us”.
The disgraced financier pleaded the fifth amendment eight times as he was quizzed during a former trial against his ex-lover, Maxwell.
He was directly asked whether he and Maxwell instructed Giuffre to have sex with Andrew and whether he had asked her to gather a “full report” to be later used as “blackmail material”.
He was also questioned over whether Andrew had sex with Giuffre “several times” and if the information gathered for the trial had “the potential to affect the reputation” of the duke.
To each targeted question, Epstein exercised his right to the fifth amendment – refusing to answer to avoid incriminating himself.
Andrew’s accuser has previously claimed he sexually assaulted her in a Victorian-style bath at Ghislaine’s mews house in Belgravia in March 2001.
Monday’s drop of documents revealed Maxwell’s lawyer had claimed that Giuffre lied about having sex with Andrew because he was “too big for the bath”.
The prince strenuously denies any wrongdoing.
However, the late Queen’s second son stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre – a woman he claimed never to have met.
11. Maxwell’s fears over links to Andrew
Maxwell could be seen sending an email in January 2015, shortly after a civil claim had been filed against her, in which she described herself as “out of my depth”.
The socialite said: “I have already suffered such a terrible and painful loss over the last few days that I can’t even see what life after press hell even looks like – statements that don’t address all just lead to more questions… what is my relationship to Clinton? Andrew on and on.”
Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020 despite attempts by her defence counsel to have her released on bail.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June 2022.
Epstein was found hung in a prison cell in New York on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial for a range of offences, including trafficking minors for sex, and multiple rapes.
How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
Always keep your phone nearby.
Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
If you are in danger, call 999.
Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
15
Most of Epstein’s sexual crimes took place on ‘Paedo island’ – Little Saint James in the US Virgin IslandsCredit: AP:Associated Press
15
Dozens of haunting photos taken at Epstein’s ‘Paedo Island’ show him and Maxwell hosting famous pals and scantily-clad young girls and womenCredit: The Mega Agency
15
A new cache of allegations against the Duke of Yorke have been unsealed – he denies wrongdoingCredit: PA
15
Victims of Jeffrey Epstein – Sarah Ransome, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and Marijke ChartouniCredit: Alamy
In the email, Maxwell writes: “I can’t even see what life after press hell even looks like.
“Statements that don’t address all just lead to more questions. What is my relationship to Clinton? Andrew? On and on.”
Maxwell also said under oath that she ‘did not recall’ being in London with Virginia Giuffre and Andrew – despite photographs showing the three together.
In another round of her deposition, Maxwell also denied that Bill Clinton ever visited Epstein’s island.
But she said Clinton did have a meal on Epstein’s plane – and that she knew the former US President’s longtime personal aide Doug Band, who claims Clinton visited the island.
Asked if she had a relationship with Band, Maxwell said: “We are talking about adult consensual relationships, it’s off the record.”
Names of Epstein and Maxwell’s victims, associates and alleged co-conspirators will continue to be made public as part of the document dump, according to Preska’s order.
It comes as…
The list is expected to include names of people with close ties to Epstein such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former Israeli PM Ehud Barak.
There is no suggestion that any of those named are accused of any wrongdoing.
The new files will include emails, legal documents, depositions and more relating to Epstein and Maxwell.
Only Epstein and Maxwell have been charged over the alleged sexual abuse of dozens of young girls in his Upper East Side townhouse and his waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005.
Prince Andrew’s accuser Ms Giuffre launched a legal battle against him in 2021 – accusing him of sexually abusing her at Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion and raping her when she was 17.
She also alleged in court documents she was recruited by Maxwell, 61, as a teenage “sex slave” for Epstein.
Ms Giuffre filed a defamation lawsuit in 2015 which was settled – but some of those involved in the trial were identified in the ruling through links to interviews they had previously given.
Judge Preska cited this as a reason for why their identities should not remain sealed.
She ruled there was no legal justification for continuing to conceal the names of more than 150 “John and Jane Does” mentioned in the court filings relating to Epstein.
Media sued to have the documents made public and they have been released on a rolling basis since 2019.
Today’s unsealing is the eighth and likely final release from the 2015 defamation case.
Ms Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in 2021 for battery and infliction of emotional distress.
They settled in February 2022 for a reported £10million, though he has always denied the allegations against him and claimed he could not recall ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
The moment the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex performed matching curtsies at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II has gone viral after fans resurfaced footage from the historic event on TikTok.
Kate and Meghan’s curtsies have both become the subjects of multiple social-media posts over the past year, since both Meghan and Prince Harry discussed the gestures in documentary and memoir projects.
Curtsies are traditional forms of reverence, offered by female members of the royal family to the monarch and their consort twice each day, upon greeting and saying goodbye. The gesture takes the form of a brief bend to the knee and bowing of the head. Fans and royal watchers are quick to spot curtsies at official events and engagements throughout the year.
The Duchess of Sussex (left) and Princess of Wales (right) dressed in black, attending the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, London, September 19, 2022. The royals’ curtsies offered on the day have featured in a new viral video. Samir Hussein/WireImage/Karwai Tang/WireImage
A number of curtsies were on display during the official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth following her death at the age of 96 in September 2022.
All senior members of the royal family gathered in London for the state funeral, including Harry and Meghan. The couple were visiting Britain at the time from their home in California to attend charity events.
Uploaded to TikTok by user @itsmeren026 on December 28, the footage from the Westminster Abbey funeral in London of the late queen has gone viral. It shows Meghan and Kate performing a final curtsy to the monarch’s coffin alongside Queen Camilla and Princess Charlotte, Kate’s daughter.
The five women—in addition to the Duchess of Edinburgh, who is not seen in the clip—performing their curtsies became a widely shared image at the time of the funeral. It marked one of the last such gestures they would be seen publicly offering to Elizabeth.
Captioned “The royals last bow and curtsy to Queen Elizabeth II,” the latest clip has been viewed over 367,000 times in 24 hours on the platform and received more than 14,500 likes and almost 200 comments, many of which have praised the royals.
“MEGHAN curtsy was beautiful,” wrote one TikTok user.
“Kate showing how it’s done!” posted another, with a further comment reading: “Strange how Megan managed a proper curtsey and not the travesty she demonstrated in the Netflix show.”
This comment references a controversy that was sparked by Meghan in her 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan. There, she described first thinking that being asked to curtsy to her partner’s grandmother was a “joke.”
In the Netflix docuseries, the duchess reenacted her first curtsy with an exaggerated bow. Although likely to have been a piece of self-deprecation to entertain viewers, it was interpreted by some as disrespect towards Queen Elizabeth and British customs.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
SHE was the Queen’s party-loving younger sister, known for smoking 60 cigarettes a day, high-profile romances and iconic style.
But in later life, Princess Margaret was plagued by health issues which saw her glamorous lifestyle replaced by hospital stays and agonising pain.
30
Princess Margaret, pictured in 1965, was the Queen’s party-loving little sisterCredit: Rex Features
30
The princess, seen in 2000, was plagued by agonising health issues in later lifeCredit: PA:Press Association
Margaret’s declining health is seen the new series of The Crown, which shows her clutching an oxygen mask to her face after undergoing lung surgery.
Yet the scenes, starring actress Helena Bonham Carter as Margaret, are only a glimpse into the chain-smoking princess’ lengthy battle with ill health – from strokes and a nervous breakdown to a horrific bath accident.
From ‘party princess’ to health woes
In her heyday, Margaret was a vivacious ‘party princess’ – dancing until dawn and finding any excuse to hang out with actors and rock stars.
A blue-eyed beauty with a tiny waist, she had a string of celebrity lovers, reportedly including actors Peter Sellers, David Niven and Peter O’Toole.
But she wasn’t lucky in love.
30
Margaret, portrayed by actress Helena Bonham Carter, clutches an oxygen mask in The Crown’s fourth seasonCredit: Netflix
30
Bonham Carter plays Margaret in seasons three and four of the Netflix hitCredit: Netflix 2020, Inc
30
Margaret, pictured dancing with her husband Lord Antony Snowdon at a ball at the Tower of London, was a vivacious ‘party princess’Credit: Corbis – Getty
30
She is pictured leaving London’s King Edward VII Hospital on November 1, 2001, three months before her death aged 71Credit: PA:Press Association
Ill-fated romances
During her early twenties, Margaret – known for her love of vodka, Scotch whisky and cigarettes – had a doomed fling with RAF pilot Peter Townsend.
She later married motorbike-riding philanderer Lord Antony Snowdon, – with their union coming as a bombshell to the Royal Family.
Despite having two children together, the pair’s marriage was marred by affairs and “gunfire”-style rows, and they eventually divorced in 1978.
But while Margaret seemed prone to ill-fated romances, she also suffered misfortune when it came to her health – starting from her mid-teens.
30
Margaret, pictured in 1970, had a penchant for alcohol and cigarettesCredit: Rex Features
30
She smiles beside Lord Snowdon during an official royal engagementCredit: Popperfoto – Getty
30
The couple wave from the deck of the Royal Yacht Britannia during their Caribbean honeymoon cruise in the West Indies in 1960Credit: Getty – Contributor
Operations from aged 15
Aged 15, she underwent surgery for appendicitis at Buckingham Palace. A news bulletin in November 1945 declared the operation a “success”.
Then, in May 1948, the young princess contracted measles – though palace officials were quick to stress that she hadn’t infected sister Elizabeth.
Over the next couple of decades, while her big sister got to grips with being Queen, Margaret battled through migraines, laryngitis and the flu.
In 1964, four years into her marriage with Lord Snowdon, she was left bedbound with catarrhal infection (inflammation of mucous membranes).
Then in 1968, she had to have her tonsils removed.
30
Margaret, pictured with big sister Elizabeth in a 1940 portrait, was just 15 when she underwent surgery for appendicitis at Buckingham PalaceCredit: Bettmann
30
The princess, seen waving to crowds in Jamaica in 1962, suffered from migraines, laryngitis, bronchitis and gastric flu during her lifeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
30
Margaret dances with ballet star Rudolf Nureyev at a party in June 1977Credit: Hulton Archive – Getty
Despite her pain, the princess, who had suffered from acute tonsillitis, was later pictured smiling as she left London’s King Edward VII Hospital.
She was accompanied by then-husband Antony, in a show of support.
A nervous breakdown
Yet in the 1970s, Margaret’s marriage to Lord Snowdon collapsed – and she suffered a nervous breakdown as her mental health deteriorated.
Despite the pair’s then-scandalous divorce, they remained friends.
But in October 1978, Margaret’s health took a pounding again as she was diagnosed with pneumonia in Tuvalu, in the South Pacific.
Fortunately, she pulled through after being flown to an Australian hospital.
30
Margaret is seen at the Badminton Horse Trials in the 1970s – the decade her marriage collapsed and she suffered a nervous breakdownCredit: Rex Features
30
She chats with Rolling Stones star Mick Jagger in a restaurant in 1976Credit: AFP – Getty
30
The Queen and Margaret are seen attending the Epsom Derby in Surrey in 1979, a year after Margaret was diagnosed with pneumonia overseasCredit: Getty Images – Getty
However, in the ’80s, the princess’s health issues escalated – with Margaret suffering from a seemingly endless string of illnesses over two decades.
In 1980 – the year she turned 50 – she was admitted to a London hospital for surgery to remove a benign skin lesion, according to the BBC.
Cancer scare
Then in January 1985, the ’60 cigarettes a day’ princess had part of her lung cut out in a cancer scare (though, luckily, the tissue was non-malignant).
At the time, Margaret’s office said doctors had removed a small area of her left lung, after she was admitted to a private suite at Brompton Hospital.
The princess’s children Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, then aged 23 and 20, were on holiday in Venice when the scare occurred.
And Margaret’s ex Lord Snowdon told reporters: ″I am very relieved that everything went all right and that it was not something serious.″
30
Margaret is pictured with Princess Diana and the Queen Mother in 1981. A year earlier, she had undergone surgery to remove a benign skin lesionCredit: Getty – Contributor
30
Prince Edward, the Queen, Princess Diana, the Queen Mother, Prince Charles and Princess Margaret are pictured outside Clarence House in 1990Credit: Getty – Contributor
60 cigarettes a day to 30
After the op, Margaret continued smoking – despite four monarchs having died from smoking-related illnesses, including her own dad, King George VI.
Never afraid of speaking her mind, she refused to bow down to pressure from both doctors and members of her family to ditch the cigarettes.
However, it is reported she cut down to 30 a day, rather than 60.
Determined Margaret also continued with royal engagements – but in 1992, she was forced to cancel some after developing a “feverish cold”.
30
Glamorous Margaret, pictured in 1991, reportedly cut down from 60 cigarettes a day to 30 after having surgery to remove part of her lungCredit: Rex Features
30
The princess, pictured in 1956 during her 26th birthday, had started smoking at a young ageCredit: EPA
And months later, still only in her early 60s, the princess was hospitalised with another bout of pneumonia after complaining of “feeling unwell”.
Again, she fought through.
Holiday horror
But in 1998, Margaret suffered her first mild stroke on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique, where she had her own holiday hideaway.
The princess – who had been gifted a plot of land on the island as a wedding present, and loved partying there – fell ill while dining with friends.
She was flown by air ambulance to Barbados, though witnesses said she was able to walk across the Tarmac to the plane and didn’t need a stretcher.
30
Margaret was spotted holidaying in Mustique with gangster John Bindon, pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Enjoy Cocaine’Credit: Alamy
30
The princess, pictured centre, and her friends Lord Colin Tennant and Lady Anne Tennant are seen waiting on the jetty at Mustique to greet the Queen during her Silver Jubilee tour of the West IndiesCredit: PA:Press Association
Despite her love for Mustique, Margaret’s health would take another blow on the island: a year later, she badly scalded her feet in a boiling hot bath.
She sustained horrendous burns in the accident, which left her reliant on support to walk (and on some occasions, she required a wheelchair).
Following her return to England, Margaret continued to support the work of the dozens of charities and organisations she was involved with.
But over Christmas 2000, the hard-working royal found herself bedbound at Sandringham following what was suspected to be a second stroke.
30
Margaret is pictured on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during celebrations for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday in August 2000Credit: EPA
30
The Sun’s Gardening Editor Peter Seabrook greets Margaret at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2000Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
30
The princess walks with a stick amid her health strugglesCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Then, in January 2001, she was hospitalised with a “severe loss” of appetite – leaving loved ones, including the Queen, concerned about her “frail” state.
Margaret’s cousin, the now-late Hon Margaret Rhodes, told the BBC: “All her life she has been the sparkling one, the centre of attention, but since her stroke three years ago, she has lost that particular facility to sparkle.”
At that point, Margaret hadn’t been seen in public since October 2000. Once the life and soul of every party, she was said to be depressed by her illness.
All her life she has been the sparkling one, the centre of attention, but since her stroke three years ago, she has lost that particular facility to sparkle
Margaret’s cousin in 2001
And the “stoic” princess’s condition only worsened that March when she had another stroke, which impaired her vision, according to the Guardian.
In her younger years, Margaret had loathed the idea of living a quiet life. Now, confused and withdrawn, it was reported she had lost the will to live.
30
Margaret is helped down a flight of steps by a nurse as she leaves King Edward VII Hospital in London in January 2001Credit: PA:Press Association
30
Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto and son Viscount Linley leave the hospital after visiting their mumCredit: PA:Press Association
30
The Queen Mother waves to supporters as Margaret looks on in a wheelchair in August 2001, after suffering a stroke which impaired her visionCredit: Reuters
But once more, she seemed to bounce back, even dining out in Mayfair.
In October 2001, the princess – who also fought off bronchitis, gastric flu and mild hepatitis during her life – was admitted to hospital for tests.
A couple of months later, she managed to attend the 100th birthday celebrations of her aunt, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.
But tragically, it would be her last public appearance.
A peaceful death
On February 9, 2002, Margaret died peacefully aged 71 at King Edward VII’s Hospital, having suffered cardiac problems following yet another stroke.
The princess passed away with her children by her side.
In her last years, she had battled through more health problems than most 100-year-olds. But she’d also lived life to the full, when she could.
30
Margaret, once the life and soul of every party, was said to be confused and withdrawn after her numerous strokesCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
30
She attends the 100th birthday celebrations of her aunt Princess Alice, pictured centre, along with the Queen in December 2001Credit: PA:Press Association
30
Her coffin is carried out of hospital following her death in February 2002Credit: AP:Associated Press
Aside from her passion for partying and socialising, Margaret was a talented piano player who could pick up and play by ear almost any tune.
As grieving nephew Prince Charles said after her death: “My darling aunt had such dreadful times in the past few years with her awful illness and it was hard for let alone her to bear it, but for all of us as well – particularly as she had such a wonderfully free spirit.
“She lived life and lived it to the full and from that point of view it was even harder for everybody to witness this.”
The Crown Season 4 – Official trailer for the Netflix drama starring Olivia Colman and Gillian Anderson
PETER Phillips was the eldest grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and is often seen a milestone royal events.
Princess Anne‘s son Peter and her daughter, Zara, did not inherit royal titles and are not being working members of the Royal Family.
2
The Queen’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips, with ex-wife AutumnCredit: AP
Who is Peter Phillips?
Peter Phillips was born to Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips on November 15, 1977, at St Mary’s Hospital.
As hereditary titles are passed down through the male line, and Captain Phillips does not have a royal title, Peter did not inherit a royal title at birth.
Peter’s parents rejected an offer from the Queen of titles, which would have enabled their children to be born into peerage.
It’s thought that they wanted their child to have the chance to lead a normal life.
Royal insiders have previously said that Peter was the Queen’s “favourite” grandson.
While they are related to the British Royal Family, Peter and Zara have never carried out royal duties.
A statement issued on their behalf said: “After informing HM The Queen and members of both families last year, Peter and Autumn jointly agreed to separate.
Royal Family roles explained
“They had reached the conclusion that this was the best course of action for their two children and ongoing friendship.
“The decision to divorce and share custody came about after many months of discussions and although sad, is an amicable one.
“The couple’s first priority will remain the continued well being and upbringing of their wonderful daughters Savannah (nine) and Isla (seven).
“Both families were naturally sad at the announcement, but fully supportive of Peter and Autumn in the joint decision to co-parent their children.”
“Both Peter and Autumn have remained in Gloucestershire to bring up their two children where they have been settled for a number of years.”
Penelope has been so much a part of royal life, household staff have nicknamed her And AlsoCredit: Alpha Press
7
Penelope has been a trusted member of the Royal Family’s inner circle for years and bonded with Philip through their love of carriage-drivingCredit: PA
The Countess Mountbatten of Burma — 32 years younger than the late Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021 aged 99 — has been a trusted member of the Royal Family’s inner circle for years and bonded with Philip through their love of carriage driving.
She was the only non-family member at Philip’s small, Covid-restricted funeral, except for his personal secretary.
Indeed, she has been so much a part of royal life, household staff nicknamed her “And Also”, because whenever Philip listed guests who were to be invited to a royal do, he would end with “and also Penny”.
When Philip was involved in a car accident near the Queen’s Norfolk retreat of Sandringham in January 2019, Her Majesty dispatched Penny to encourage the duke to surrender his driver’s licence.
Ingrid Seward, author of biography Prince Philip Revealed: A Man Of His Century, said: “The Queen had enlisted the help of the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who visited Philip and helped convince him to give up driving.”
Three weeks after the accident, which Philip blamed on him being blinded by the low winter sun, it was announced he had stopped driving.
The Truman Show actress Natascha McElhone plays Penny in The Crown, with veteran actor Jonathan Pryce taking over from Tobias Menzies as Philip.
A TV insider said: “The highly personal relationship is unlikely to be welcomed as a storyline by the Queen or the rest of the Royal Family.”
Penny was introduced to Philip at age 20 while dating husband-to-be Norton Knatchbull, Philip’s godson and grandson of the duke’s uncle Lord Mountbatten.
Norton had been a year above the then-Prince Charles at Scottish boarding school Gordonstoun and the Queen and Philip never forgot his kindness in looking after their eldest child during his challenging time there.
Back then, Penny was simply Penelope Eastwood, daughter of Reg Eastwood, a wealthy butcher turned businessman who founded the Angus Steakhouse restaurants.
Tragedy befell the family in 1979 when Lord Mountbatten — affectionately known by the royals as Uncle Dickie — was assassinated by the IRA.
The bomb blast on board his fishing boat off County Sligo, Ireland, which featured in the last series of The Crown, also killed Norton’s 14-year-old brother Nicholas and his grandmother, Lady Brabourne.
Devastated by this horror, Penny and Norton decided to postpone their wedding for two months.
When they did tie the knot, with Charles as best man, they inherited Mountbatten’s 18th-century, 60-room Broadlands estate near Romsey, Hants, where Charles and Di would spend part of their honeymoon two years later.
‘Tremendous support’
With Philip and Penny, who was previously known as Lady Romsey then Lady Brabourne, it was a meeting of the minds.
Educated in Switzerland, and with a business degree from the London School of Economics, friends describe her as being “outgoing, engaged, clever and well-read”.
She and the duke also both shared a “boisterous sense of humour”, according to Ingrid. But it was after Penny’s five-year-old daughter Leonora died of kidney cancer in 1991 that Philip really began to take her under his wing.
One source said: “He was a tremendous support during a time of unimaginable grief.”
He encouraged Penny to take up his sport of carriage driving, to distract her, and got his head groom Micky Flynn to show her the ropes.
For Philip, it meant he gained an attractive companion to events such as the Royal Windsor Horse Show and at numerous social gatherings associated with the sport and beyond.
They were even spotted dancing together at the Royal Yacht Squadron Ball during one Cowes Week. Of course, incidents like this on the Isle of Wight only fuelled whispers that they may have been more than just good friends.
It was even rumoured Prince Charles had cut off his friendship with Penny after someone close to him shared their suspicion that his father was having an affair with her.
But author Ingrid said: “We’ll never know how the Queen felt about it all. Philip always was a flirt and the Queen used to joke about his lascivious nature. If she had been hurt by rumours of supposed dalliances, she would never let on.”
Philip himself would simply laugh off any suggestion of impropriety. He told journalist Jeremy Paxman: “Every time I talk to a woman they say I’ve been to bed with her. It’s absolutely cuckoo.”
‘Absolutely cuckoo’
Penny’s marriage broke down in 2010, after 31 years and three children. Her husband Norton, now the 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, fled to the Caribbean to be with fashion designer Eugenie Nuttall. Jeannie, as she is known, is the sister of former Bahamas Attorney General Sean McWeeney.
Penny, left to manage her and Norton’s 5,000-acre Hampshire estate alone, reportedly gathered together all the staff while her estranged husband was mid-flight and told them he had gone but everything else would stay the same.
One source said at the time: “Not for a moment would Penny allow her husband’s departure to interrupt the smooth running of the estate.”
There was never any question she would leave Broadlands, where every day she visits the tall stone monument, about 100 yards from the house, which stands above her daughter Leonora’s grave.
The Royal Family, in particular The Queen, were full of admiration for Penny’s stoicism. She did allow Norton back to Broadlands in 2014, not to the marital home, but to a converted barn there.
Her marriage troubles came on top of worry about their son, Nicholas, who was a year above Prince William at Eton, and had spent years hooked on crack cocaine and heroin. It was only when he feared he would be cut off from the family’s £100million fortune that he checked into rehab and kicked his habits.
In May 2021, tattooed Nicholas, 40, a music producer and gardener, married Ambre Pouzet, a French former fire-eating mermaid performer. The civil ceremony at Broadlands was a far cry from his sister Alexandra’s lavish 2016 wedding at Romsey Abbey, in which she was given away by the now-King Charles, as her father, The Queen and Philip watched.
A family friend said: “It’s very unusual to be given away by someone else at your wedding, even if it is by the Prince of Wales. Alexandra was at the time furious with her father for leaving her mother, but of course she still wanted him at the wedding.”
Alexandra, a financial analyst known as Knatch, chose to marry Thomas Hooper, an entrepreneur, on what would have been her sister Leonora’s 30th birthday. By coincidence, Leonora shared the same birthday as Uncle Dickie.
The day after Philip was laid to rest at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Irish republican partySinn Fein — the political wing of the IRA — apologised for Mountbatten’s assassination. Penny continued to visit Philip until he died on April 9.
She was one of the only people apart from family members who he saw at Wood Farm, the five-bedroom home on the Sandringham estate where he spent most of his time after he retired from royal duties in 2017.
Ingrid says: “They were brought together by tragedy but were there for each other through thick and thin. He trusted her implicitly and she adored him. She never betrayed him. She was a keeper not only of his secrets but those of the family.”
Penny returned to the Royal Windsor Horse Show without her decades-long comp-anion for the first time. She was seen standing behind the Queen, broad grins on both their faces.
If Philip had been looking down on them, he surely would have been smiling too.
7
Jonathan Pryce as Prince Phillip and Natascha McElhone as Penny Knatchbull in The CrownCredit: NETFLIX
7
Penny was the only non-family at Philip’s small, Covid-restricted funeral, except for his personal secretaryCredit: Getty
7
Penny and Prince Charles pictured in 1983Credit: Alpha Press
7
The pair mount their motorbikes during the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Home Park, Windsor Castle on May 13, 2005Credit: Getty
7
Philip and Penny at Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2009Credit: Getty
THE Queen Mother was the late Queen Elizabeth’s mum and a much-loved national treasure.
Here’s everything you need to know about the great royal matriarch.
1
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on her 50th birthdayCredit: Getty – Contributor
Who was the Queen Mother?
The Queen Mother was born on August 4, 1900.
In 1923 she married Prince Albert.
She became Queen Elizabeth after Prince Albert’s brother King Edward VIII abdicated the throne on December 11, 1936.
Edward wanted to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, but as King he was head of the Church of England, which at that time did not allow divorced people to remarry.
READ MORE ON THE QUEEN MOTHER
Rather than abandon his plans to wed Simpson, he chose to abdicate in favour of Albert, who became King in his place on December 11, 1936 under the name of George VI.
King George VI and Elizabeth were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India in Westminster Abbey on May 12, 1937.
Elizabeth’s crown was made of platinum and was set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
Elizabeth was Queen consort — the title of the wife of the King, although she doesn’t rule as the monarch.
She would remain Queen consort until King George VI’s death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
When did the Queen Mother die?
The Queen Mother died on March 30, 2002.
Her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, had passed away seven weeks earlier.
At 101 years and 238 days old, she was the longest-living member of the royal family in British history.
On the day of her funeral, April 9, 2002, the Governor General of Canada issued a proclamation asking Canadians to honour her memory, while in Australia the Governor-General read the lesson at a memorial service held in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney.
How long was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married to King George VI?
Prince Albert — known as Bertie — first proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she initially turned him down.
Elizabeth said she was “afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to” if she became part of the Royal Family.
But the Prince did not give up his hopes to marry her and declared he would marry no other.
His mother, Queen Mary, visited Elizabeth’s childhood home to meet her, and became convinced that she was “the one girl who could make Bertie happy”.
In February 1922 Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Albert’s sister, Princess Mary, to Viscount Lascelles.
The following month, Albert proposed again, but she refused him once more.
Eventually, in January 1923, Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, and they selected a platinum engagement ring featuring a Kashmir sapphire with two diamonds adorning its sides.
They married on April 26, 1923, at Westminster Abbey, and Elizabeth, aged 22, became styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York.
Following a wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace, the new Duchess and her husband honeymooned at Polesden Lacey, a manor house in Surrey.
The couple were married for 29 years, until the King’s death on February 6, 1952.
Their eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth was born three years later, on April 21, 1926.
An estimated 200,000 people over three days filed past as she lay in state in Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster.
In London, more than a million people filled the area outside Westminster Abbey and along the 23-mile route from central London to her final resting place beside her husband and younger daughter in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
At her request, after her funeral, the wreath that had lain atop her coffin was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, in a gesture that echoed her wedding-day tribute 79 years before.
What was the Queen Mother’s name?
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the Queen Mother’s given name.
She became Queen Elizabeth after her husband’s brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne.
A Queen Mother is a dowager queen who is the mother of an empress mother.
She was popular, earning the nickname “Smiling Duchess” and was known for her cheerful spirit.
