Oprah with Meghan and Harry is a 2021 television special hosted by American media personality Oprah Winfrey, that featured an interview between Winfrey, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. The special premiered March 7, 2021, on CBS in the United States, and in the United Kingdom the next day on ITV.
Filmed in Santa Barbara County, California, the interview came the year after Prince Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down as working members of the British royal family in January 2020. The interview included discussion of their courtship, wedding, their second child's sex (female), mental health struggles including Meghan's suicidal thoughts, and a shared sense of abandonment in terms of emotional and financial support. Moreover, Meghan critiqued the British monarchy as an institution, while they both said one or more comments had been made privately to Harry by an unidentified individual within the royal family in relation to the skin color of their then-unborn son, Prince Archie. Also discussed was a royal title for Archie, the personal security of the couple, and Harry's estrangement from his father, Charles, and brother, William. Meghan's own relationship with her estranged family was also briefly touched upon.
The interview received high viewing figures, generated extensive media attention and mixed reaction from political figures. The special was nominated for a 2021 Television Critics Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a People's Choice Award.
Background
Although Winfrey was a guest at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, the couple first discussed their experiences with the media and public life in the 2019 ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey with Tom Bradby. In March 2020, Harry and Meghan stepped down as working members of the British royal family to move to North America and become financially independent, subject to a 12-month review period should they change their minds. In June 2020, a home was purchased in Montecito, California, within the same "super-wealthy" enclave as Winfrey and other Hollywood celebrities.
On February 19, 2021, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Harry and Meghan would not be returning as working members of the royal family, and that the duke would step down as honorary Captain General of the Royal Marines and relinquish all other honorary military appointments held. Both Harry and Meghan also relinquished their royal patronages, including the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively, of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust. On February 26, The Late Late Show with James Corden released a 17-minute film segment, titled An Afternoon with Prince Harry & James Corden, with Meghan making a cameo appearance by video call.
In March 2021, The Times reported that a complaint of workplace harassment had been made in 2018 against Meghan by her former senior royal advisor, after separate incidents with three other employees. Representatives of the duke and duchess denounced the reports as "misinformation" and stated that "it's no coincidence that distorted several-year-old accusations aimed at undermining The duchess are being briefed to the British media shortly before she and the duke are due to speak openly and honestly about their experience of recent years."
Production and release
Winfrey initially denied reports of a "tell-all interview" in January 2020. Royal biographer Andrew Morton claimed that Harry had been in contact with Winfrey at least since November 2018. ITV News first reported that Meghan and Harry were finalizing an interview deal in February 2021, and it was subsequently confirmed by CBS. The Wall Street Journal reported that CBS paid "a license fee of between $7 million and $9 million" for the broadcasting rights. The network also sought $325,000 for 30 seconds of commercial advertising time during the broadcast. Meghan and Harry were not paid for the interview.
Produced by Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the taping took place outdoors in Santa Barbara County, California, at the home of an unnamed friend of Winfrey's. The special premiered on March 7, 2021, on CBS, and aired the following day on ITV in the United Kingdom. ViacomCBS Global Distribution handled distribution internationally. Winfrey appeared on CBS This Morning on March 8 to present footage not included in the special.
Content Various topics were discussed in the interview. Meghan spoke about "stepping into life as a royal, marriage, motherhood" and "how she is handling life under intense public pressure". She stated they were married in their backyard in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury three days prior to their public wedding ceremony. Harry joined her later, and the pair talked about their move to the United States from the United Kingdom in 2020 and their plans for the future, as well as revealing the sex of their second child, a daughter due to be born in "the summer" of 2021.
Meghan drew a distinction between the royal family, and those that run the institution of the monarchy: "It's hard for people to distinguish the two, because it's a family business right, there's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things ... the Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me." She said "she phoned the Queen after Prince Philip went into hospital" in February 2021. Although Meghan said that she knew some things about the royal family, discussion of them was not regular when she was growing up. She commented on "naively" entering the royal family, as she did not do her own research because she felt that Harry was telling her all she needed to know. Meghan said that she was not provided with proper training on royal protocols, and recounted practicing how to curtsy with help from Sarah, Duchess of York, outside the Royal Lodge prior to first meeting the Queen. Meghan said that a reported incident of her making her sister-in-law Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, cry was actually misreported, and that, in fact Catherine had made her cry about flower girl dresses. She stated that Catherine had apologized about it subsequently, sending her a note and flowers. Meghan also criticized the institution for knowing the truth about these events, but not showing any efforts to correct the story.
Otherwise, Meghan said that during her time as a senior royal, she had been silenced. She believed that, by not commenting on her life, she would receive protection, but said that such reciprocity did not occur. Meghan said that, when she was pregnant with her and Harry's son, Archie, she was told that the Palace would not give the baby the title of prince, nor would he receive personal security. She believed that this was attributable to her son's mixed ethnicity, and worried about a lack of security for him, particularly given the manner in which tabloids had treated her. She said that Harry had "in tandem the conversation" with a member of the royal family about not being a prince or having security and "concerns and conversations about how dark" Archie's skin would be. When later pressed for greater details, Harry said he is "never going to share more" about "that conversation" which took place "right at the beginning".
Meghan discussed contemplating suicide by saying "I did not want to be alive anymore". She said she had gone to several senior palace officials to seek help or be checked into a hospital, but was told that would not be good as a public image. She added that one of the people she reached out to during that period and has remained in contact with was a best friend of Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Meghan discussed feeling trapped, telling Winfrey that her driver's license, passport, and credit cards had been taken from her prior to her wedding, and been made unavailable to her. Harry discussed the way in which Meghan was treated: "I saw history repeating itself," drawing comparisons to his late mother, and worried that a tragic ending may repeat itself with Meghan. Harry said that he only stepped back as a royal after it became clear that the help he was asking for was not forthcoming. He believed that after he and Meghan toured Australia in October 2018, members of the royal family were jealous of the "effortless" manner in which Meghan had been able to interact with people in the Commonwealth and "how good she was at the job". According to Meghan, they had discussed with the royal family moving to a Commonwealth country, particularly South Africa or New Zealand, as part of their stepping back.
Harry said that there was a period of unspecified duration in which his father, Prince Charles, would not return his phone calls, and he felt "really let down". Harry also expressed affection for his older brother Prince William, saying that he "loved him to bits", but stated, "we're on different paths".
Harry and Meghan denied having "blindsided" the Queen with their decision to step back as senior royals, and they also said that they had held discussions with the royal family beforehand. In response to Winfrey's question about whether he would have left the monarchy if not for Meghan, Harry said that he would not have. Meghan had opened his eyes as to how trapped he was inside the "institution" into which he had been born. Harry said that he and Meghan had not initially planned to make commercial deals like those which they had forged with Netflix and Spotify, but that they needed to make arrangements for their safety after the royal family refused them further security protection, then cut off financial support in early 2020. The couple later revealed that after royal security ceased, Tyler Perry provided them with a secure house in Beverly Hills until they were able to make an alternative plan. Harry added that he was able to provide for the family with inherited money from his mother. Harry and Meghan both said that they initially did not intend to completely leave their roles in the royal family, but only wanted to step back into smaller roles. At the conclusion of the interview, Harry declared that his relationship with Meghan had "saved" him, while she added that his decisions had saved their entire family, referring to the two of them and Archie.
Extra footage Four clips that were unaired during the main program were shown the following day on CBS This Morning. When asked if racism played a role in their decision to leave the UK, Harry responded: "it was a large part of it". He also added that he did not believe that the UK is bigoted. Harry went on to say that after he informed the Palace about their decision to leave, the Queen canceled a pre-planned meeting with the couple in Sandringham due to a busy schedule. Harry's request for another meeting was denied over the phone directly by the Queen, though he attributed her decision to the influence of her advisors. The couple also talked about Meghan's tabloid coverage, and (according to them) an alleged toxic environment within the royal institution. Harry attributed this perceived toxicity to the "control and the fear by the UK tabloids", and opined that his ancestral family had adapted to such an environment.