The upcoming tell-all interview in which Oprah Winfrey is allowed to ask Prince Harry and Meghan Markle anything she can think of — with “nothing off limits” isn’t just crazy exciting… it’s also years in the making!
Yes, according to sources spilling to DailyMail.com, this has been something Meghan has wanted to do for TWO YEARS now.
You may recall back in the summer of 2019 when Gayle King hosted a special called Meghan and Harry Plus One, in which she interviewed friends of the couple about their new roles as parents to little Archie Harrison.
Well, according to these sources there was almost an interview special with the new momma herself! Per the insiders, the Duchess of Sussex planned to speak about her experiences to the CBS anchor at the time, but the Royal Family’s public relations team shut it down!
Related: Gayle Was Supposedly Going To Interview Harry & Meghan In 2020, Too
Royal experts can poo poo the idea of Queen Elizabeth and The Firm “silencing” Meghan, but this was supposedly just going to be a “short interview” about becoming a mom and adjusting to life as a Royal. And Kensington Palace stopped it cold? If that’s true, no wonder gurl felt like she was being suffocated by the press from the outside — with no outlet to express her truth — and by the family from the inside.
So why did they say no? According to one source, officials feared “it would alienate the UK press.” After the sitdown was denied, say the sources, “Meghan put her foot down” and insisted Gayle at least be invited to the first photo shoot with baby Harrison at St. George’s Hall in Windsor.
The palace source explained that the Sussexes were trying to “manage their own public image away from select UK media” but were turned down — something that didn’t help with a growing rift in the family:
“They were emphatically told she could not conduct her own lengthy interviews with US media friends after Archie’s birth. That led to tension with courtiers as the pair wanted to tell their stories about philanthropic and personal matters. Certainly from their side there was an element of feeling handcuffed and not having full ownership of their image.”
So what was Harry and Meghan’s plan at the time?
“The couple wanted to usher in a new era and mindset about having control, not just in their messaging but also about who they chose to speak with. Oprah and Gayle have been supportive publicly of Meghan and Harry, since they dated. So for the Sussexes their friends felt like a safe place.”
Well, they’ve got what they want now — kind of. Instead of changing the way the Royals do things, they had to push the eject button to be allowed to do things their way. But they’re getting that interview after all — although with Gayle’s bestie Oprah instead. The source said:
“This interview has been two years in the making with either Gayle or Oprah asking the questions. In reality it is the two of them prepping for the in-depth conversation.”
Inneresting — now we know a bit more about why Gayle has been hyping up the interview so much.
And it promises to be a doozy. ITV bought the rights to show the TV event in the UK, and it is said to have cost the network around £1 million as they outbid Sky. Now ITV’s Royal Editor Chris Ship has some insight into the upcoming special and is selling it almost as well as Gayle. He told Good Morning Britain of Meghan’s portion:
“I know that she is going to mention things like mental health and the impact of being in the UK had on her mental health. I know that she’s going to mention about the press intrusion, but also she’s going to raise the issue of race in Britain.”
Race in Britain? Considering how much racism Meghan’s existence brought out in folks, that promises to be a hot topic indeed! We’ve heard some talk of folks who aren’t fans of Megxit boycotting the interview, but we imagine a great many vocal critics will be tuning in just to see what is and isn’t said.
Are YOU looking forward to watching??
The post Meghan Markle Has Been Planning This Tell-All For 2 YEARS — And WILL Tackle UK Racism! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
