Over a year after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s eye-opening interview with Oprah Winfrey took place, the talk show host is opening up about how the sitdown came to be. According to Winfrey, she did not set out to do a “bombshell interview” with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The TV legend spoke to her good friend Gayle King about the subject while at the Toronto Film Festival to promote her Sidney Poitier documentary, per Entertainment Tonight.ย
The word “bombshell” has been used quite often to describe Markle and Harry’s interview, especially as they made some serious claims about the British royal family. Although, Winfrey was just “as surprised by the bombshell as everyone else.” She continued, “I was doing an interview to offer them a platform to tell their story about why they left.” Winfrey was prepared to hear about why the duke and duchess decided to step down from their positions as senior members of the royal family. But, she apparently didn’t expect to hear some of the more shocking allegations from the couple.ย
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“My number one intention was just clarity on why did you leave?” Winfrey explained. “Some of the things that were revealed in that interview came as a surprise to me and those surprises are now referred to as bombshell, but I didn’t set out to do a bombshell interview, I set out to do an interview [and] have a conversation that would allow them to tell their story.” Markle and Harry’s interview with Winfrey aired in March 2021. During the interview, the couple made a series of claims including that a member of the royal family raised concerns about their child’s skin color. Markle also said that she experienced suicidal thoughts while a working member of the royal family. The interview took place about a year after the pair announced that they were stepping down as official, working members of the royal family.ย
Winfrey’s comments come on the heels of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The monarch died at the age of 96 while at her Balmoral Castle residence. Buckingham Palace announced the news by sharing, “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. Flags across the U.K. were lowered to half-mast ahead of a national minute’s silence and the start of an official period of mourning.” Markle and Harry were already in the United Kingdom for a charity event (that was since canceled). They have subsequently joined the other members of the royal family, including Kate Middleton and Prince William, by greeting mourners who wished to pay their respects to the late Queen.ย
