Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey is set to air on Sunday night on CBS, and Buckingham Palace is clearly getting nervous. Based on the clips that have been released ahead of the airtime, the couple does not hold back, claiming that the Royal Family “perpetuated falsehoods” about her and encouraged a smear campaign in the British press. “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.” She continued, saying “if that comes with the risk of losing things, I mean there’s a lot that’s been lost already.”
Omid Scobie, royal biographer and co-author of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, spoke to ET about how he thought the interview would go. “Oprah’s been there through this journey, so she knows exactly the questions to ask and who caused the problems for Harry and Meghan,” Scobie explained. “I think Harry and Meghan will be extremely candid in the things that they share.”
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Their issues are really in the institution of the monarchy, rather than with royal family members themselves, but their lives were made extremely difficult,” Scobie continued. “There were leaks from various royal aides and courtiers that often ended up in the British newspapers, causing a lot of pain, a lot of difficulty for them. We never heard them speak. This is the first time that we really get to hear [about] the emotional turmoil and difficulty that came from those very dark days as working members of the royal family.” Being so candid could have major repercussions with their relationships with Harry’s family, but Scobie believes that “at this point, Harry and Meghan feel they have nothing to lose.”
“They already sacrificed so much to find a space that they can thrive in,” he said. “So if there is a repercussion for doing this interview, I think for both of them the attitude is, ‘So be it.’ For so many years, the whole world has spoken about Harry and Meghan, but they haven’t been able to speak themselves.”
There is concern over Harry’s grandfather Prince Phillip’s waning health. He has been hospitalized since February 16 and recently underwent heart surgery. “It’s a tough one for Harry and Meghan,” Scobie told ET. “They planned this interview before Prince Philip was admitted to the hospital, and, unfortunately, here we are facing the third weekend of him still in the care of the hospital here in London. But for Harry and Meghan, they have kept a great relationship with Philip and the queen. We heard Harry talking very warmly about his grandfather on James Corden’s show not so long ago, and I think we’ll hear more of that when they sit down with Oprah.”
“This idea that people have that they may be throwing the queen under the bus on national television … is far from the truth,” he continued. “This is a couple that understands the difference between the machine of the monarchy, the institution, and the family itself. And it’s that family with certain individuals they have great relationships with.”
One of the relationships that might not be so great is between Prince Harry and Prince William, who have long been on rocky terms. “We’re approaching 16 months since they actually had a face-to-face conversation with each other,” Scobie said. “In terms of seeing eye-to-eye, we’re a long way from that. And I think it’ll really be something that Harry and Meghan need to perhaps approach much further down the line.”
