The Queen has not been given an ‘advance copy’ of Meghan and Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, reports claim.
Senior royals and Palace aides will watch the much-anticipated interview ‘at the same time’ as the rest of the world, with network CBS set to air the two-hour special in the US at 1am UK time on Monday morning.
Officials have vowed to ‘reserve judgement’ on the show and will decide on Monday whether to make a public response in light of anything specific Meghan and Harry have to say.
ITV will broadcast it at 9pm that evening.
Over-produced teaser trailers have already seen the Duchess of Sussex accuse the ‘Firm’ of ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ about her and Prince Harry during their time in Kensington Palace.
The couple, ITV and CBS have all faced furious backlash at the decision to push ahead with broadcasting the interview while Harry’s 99-year-old grandfather Prince Philip recovers from heart surgery in hospital.
A friend earlier said Meghan would never ask to postpone Sunday’s release of her tell-all interview and claimed the royal family is using the Duke of Edinburgh’s health as an excuse to keep her ‘muzzled’.
Although most of the interview will be a one-to-one chat on what the duchess has to say about her brief but acrimonious time as a working royal, Harry is understood to come in towards the end to have his say on the media and discuss their plans for the future.
It is believed that this approach has in part been done in an attempt to distance himself from any of the stronger allegations made about his own family by his wife.
But if the 36-year-old prince, who is still sixth in line to the throne, thinks it will go any way to protecting his already fragile relationships with his relatives, notably his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, he will have to think again.
William has barely spoken to his brother in recent months and their relationship is said to be ‘hanging by a thread’ – although Prince Charles is understood to have tried not to get involved.
Despairing officials also cannot believe that Harry is so ‘blinkered’ that he cannot see how the interview is likely to destroy any vestige of trust between him and his family.
It comes as the charity watchdog is reviewing Harry and Meghan’s charity amid concerns about how it was run and whether it complied with charity law before it was shut down last year following their move to the US.
Sources told the Telegraph the Charity Commission has opened a ‘regulatory and compliance case’ into Sussex Royal, though the watchdog has not yet determined whether or not there was any wrongdoing.
A Hollywood insider with ties to the Sussexes tells DailyMail.com, ‘Even if Meghan had the choice to postpone the Oprah special she said she wouldn’t’
The Queen (pictured with the Sussexes in 2018) has not been given an ‘advanced copy’ of Meghan and Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, reports claim
Senior royals (the family pictured together last year) and Palace aides will watch the much-anticipated interview ‘at the same time’ as the rest of the world with network CBS set to air the two-hour special in the US at 1am UK time on Sunday night
Mounting pressure has been put on Meghan, Harry and CBS to push back the much-anticipated interview special out of respect for Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip, who is recovering from heart surgery.
But a friend of the Sussexes tells DailyMail.com exclusively, ‘Even if Meghan had the choice to postpone the Oprah special she said she wouldn’t because it has absolutely nothing to do with Prince Philip and that this is just an excuse by the palace to keep her muzzled.’
Mounting pressure has been put on Meghan and Harry to push back the much-anticipated interview special out of respect for Prince Philip’s health
In a teaser released Wednesday, Meghan accused the Royal Family of ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ about her and Harry.
The clip was released the same day Buckingham Palace launched a probe into allegations that Meghan bullied her staff.
The unprecedented inquiry came after Meghan was accused of inflicting ’emotional cruelty’ on aides who said she is playing the victim.
Royal staff said they are members of the ‘Sussex Survivors’ Club’ after working for the couple, with some claiming they have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety because of their treatment by Harry and Meghan.
But our source said, ‘[Meghan] said these outrageous allegations confirm why she and Harry had to part ways and make it their mission to be a voice for the underdog.
‘Meghan said not once did anyone from the Palace come to her defense when she was being shredded by the tabloids, but now all of a sudden it’s okay for ??? those same people to talk to the media.
‘She said it’s a double standard and not in a million years would Kate ever be treated this way.
Meghan said she was singled out from day one.
‘Meghan said she is beyond relieved and grateful that she can enjoy her pregnancy surrounded by love and support, unlike what she experienced behind the walls of the Palace.’
On Friday another promo clip was released of the interview.
In it, Meghan claimed royal aides blocked her from having a personal conversation with Oprah in the months leading up to her wedding to Prince Harry.
Oprah revealed she called Meghan in February or March 2018 – two or three months before her wedding at Windsor ??? Castle in May that year – to ask for an interview, but she declined because it was not ‘the right time’.
On Wednesday, the Palace confirmed that its HR team will ‘look into’ the allegations, saying it ‘does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace’
The bullying claims emerged in a 2018 email sent by Harry and Meghan’s press chief Jason Knauf, who now works for Prince William.
This sparked an extraordinary chain of events where the Sussexes accused Buckingham Palace of smearing them. The Queen then launched an inquiry into the bullying claims
Meghan said she remembered that chat with Oprah ‘very well’ and ‘wasn’t even allowed to have this conversation with you personally’ because there had to be other people in the room sitting in.
Asked why she was now speaking out, Meghan gave a long pause, before saying: ‘Well, so many things.
That we’re on the other side of a lot of – a lot of life experience that’s happened, and also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then.’
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