What do Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan reveal to Oprah Winfrey? It wouldn't be the first TV scandal for the Royals …
What do Prince Harry (36) and Duchess Meghan (39) reveal in their big interview with Oprah Winfrey (67)? CBS has already released the first excerpts from the eagerly anticipated TV appearance by the Duke of Sussex and his wife, which will air on March 7th – and it actually seems to be very personal. In the interview with the talk legend, the two talk about the "Megxit", among other things. "My biggest concern was that history would repeat itself," Harry can be heard in advance in a teaser. He is apparently referring to his mother Diana, who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 at the age of 36 when she was followed by paparazzi.
He was very "relieved and happy" that he could talk to his wife by his side, Harry continued, because he couldn't imagine what it must have been like for his mother, "going through this process all those years ago on his own to have". And he adds: "It was incredibly difficult for both of us, but at least we had each other." Diana herself had already caused a huge stir with a TV interview – just like Harry's father Prince Charles (72) and other royals.
Prince Charles
The British heir to the throne has spoken about his adultery on television and has amazed the whole country. Charles' father Prince Philip (99) is said to have been "indignant" according to media reports when Charles spoke about his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (73) in an interview with Jonathan Dimbleby (76) in 1994, two years after his separation from Diana. A telephone survey by the "Sun" subsequently revealed that two thirds of the callers thought he was incapable of being king.
Dimbleby raised tabloid reports about the affair and asked Charles if he had "tried" to be faithful to his wife. Charles replied, "Yes, absolutely." When asked "And was it you?" Charles said: "Yes", but then added about his marriage: "We both tried until it had irrevocably collapsed." The damage after the TV appearance was great – it is said to have led, among other things, to a famous retaliatory interview …
Princess Diana
A year later, Princess Diana also gave an interview on television – with Martin Bashir (58) from "BBC Panorama". An estimated 22.8 million people watched Charles' ex talk about their marital problems and eating disorders. She also confessed to an extramarital affair with James Hewitt, 62. When Bashir asked Diana if Camilla was a "factor" in the failure of the marriage, she replied with the now famous sentence: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." ("Well, there were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowded.")
During the interview, Diana also confirmed rumors that she had harmed herself. "When no one listens to you or you think no one is listening to you, all kinds of things start to happen," she explained. "For example, you have so much pain inside you that you try to hurt yourself from the outside because you want help, but it is the wrong help you are asking for. (…)" She explained that she was injured my arms and legs. "I didn't like myself. I was ashamed because I couldn't cope with the pressure." A month after the interview aired, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II (94) had sent letters to Charles and Diana advising them to divorce.
Sarah Ferguson
Sarah Ferguson (61), the Duchess of York, left a "60 Minutes Australia" interview in 2018. The reason: Michael Usher (51) had asked her about a fake businessman, an undercover reporter, whom she had offered access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew (61) for 500,000 pounds (about 580,000 euros). News of the World secretly recorded the Queen's ex-daughter-in-law saying, "I can open any door you want and I will open it for you."
However, when "Fergie" was approached by Usher about the 2010 scandal, she rolled her eyes and shook her head before saying, "Don't try to fool me now." She then requested that "this part" be deleted and left the studio.
Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew's interview with Emily Maitlis (50) at the end of 2019 is also considered a disastrous PR mishap. On "BBC Newsnight", the Queen's son spoke about his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (1953-2019). Although he allegedly had the impression that it had gone very well, he then had to resign from his royal duties.
Andrew stated in the interview that he has no regrets about his friendship with Epstein. He also defended his stay with Epstein in 2010, after he had already been convicted and imprisoned. The allegations of Virginia Giuffre (37), – one of the plaintiffs in the Epstein scandal – she was forced to have sex with the prince, he denied. On the night he is said to have met the young woman, he brought his daughter Beatrice (32) to a children's birthday party, he said.
Prince Harry
Even before the conversation with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry caused a stir with a TV appearance. In an interview with James Corden (42) for his "The Late Late Show" in February, Harry said among other things that the British tabloids had created a "difficult environment" that was destroying his mental health. He also declared to the "Megxit" that he and his wife "have not left the royal family". They have "resigned" but not "ceded". He did "what any father or husband would do and thought about how I could get my family out of there".
Corden also asked Prince Harry what he thought of the Netflix series "The Crown," which traces the Queen's life. According to the Queen's grandson, the TV show is fictional and does not pretend to be true. He feels much more comfortable with "The Crown" than with the stories that have been written about my family, my wife or myself, "said Harry, who himself has signed a lucrative Netflix deal with Meghan.