Meghan and Harry at Oprah: the interview that turned the royal family into a bad soap
As expected as feared, the interview that the Sussexes grant this Sunday, March 7 on American television (2 a.m. in France) appears as the last episode of a war of images from which no one within the Windsor clan leaves really grown up.
One twist drives the other. Like a soap opera, each one more improbable than the next. The British royal family seems to have left the upper echelons of the monarchy for the baseness of a very bad soap opera with each character trying to pull the cover over themselves. Think Love, Glory and Beauty more than The Crown, which holds there the plot of a hypothetical season 7 which we already know will never see the light of day.
The broadcast this Sunday, March 7 (2 a.m., French time) of an interview-confession with Meghan and Prince Harry comes to close a sequence that could definitely blow up the Windsor clan. The Sussexes come in prime time on American television to deliver their truth and detail, for the first time, the reasons which pushed them to flee the United Kingdom for the United States.
The Sussexes have taken up residence in the setting of a cult soap
The codes of soap are everywhere in this family business. Right down to Meghan and Harry's zip code. Because it is in Montecito, California, that the couple and their son Archie have been packing their bags for nearly a year and their shattering - but not surprisingly - resignation from all royal obligations. A little corner of paradise located in the county of Santa Barbara, which was already used as the setting for the cult soap of the same name in the 80s. By settling on the other side of the Atlantic, Meghan and Harry wanted to resume hand the scenario of their lives. Send the tabloids for a walk first, the pressure of royalty in the second.
In the space of a few months, the Sussexes built a lucrative business on their behalf that opened the doors to Spotify and Netflix. The couple have increased online appearances to get involved, in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement or against Donald Trump before the presidential election. And then there was this biography, Free, which they did not collaborate on but which they did not spit on either. Speeches contrary to the usual right of reservation to which members of the British royal family submit. So it was only a matter of time before Meghan and Harry decided to tell their story on camera. Obviously, it was Oprah Winfrey that the young parents turned to.
"This is the best interview she has ever done"
Gayle King on his friend Oprah Winfrey
High priestess of American television and a favorite listening ear of the stars, she was one of 1,600 guests at their royal nuptials in Windsor. According to other great American journalist Gayle King, the Sussex interview "is the best her friend has ever done." From its announcement in mid-February, the interview was billed as "an intimate conversation" between the trio. The Anglo-Saxon press saw in it all the ingredients for a "tell-all interview", an interview "where you unpack everything". A reminder of the exercise Diana had performed in 1995. Lady Di had mentioned her eating disorders and revealed that there were "three" in her marriage to Prince Charles, tackling Camilla Parker-Bowles.
The memory of the late Princess of Wales is also summoned in the very first extract unveiled by CBS. In a trailer worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, Harry insists that his greatest fear was "of history repeating itself." A week earlier, however, all seemed to be going very well for the prince who had given himself a delirious escapade in the streets of Los Angeles for the Late Late Show of James Corden. The opportunity to set the stage and explain that he did everything to protect his family and his own sanity by slamming the door of the palace. We also learned from the same footage that Queen Elizabeth II gave Archie a waffle maker for Christmas and Prince Philip sharply closed the computer to quit a Zoom chat. Cordial exchanges which, as in any soap, hide deeper tears.
Already strained, royal relations exploded publicly within three days. Meghan and Harry accused the very serious daily The Times "of being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a totally false account" after the publication of an article revealing that the Duchess had been the subject of a harassment complaint against former assistants from when she lived in Kensington Palace. In a very rare statement, the palace expressed "concern" and announced the opening of an internal investigation. CBS took the opportunity to relaunch a machine already launched at full speed. And a few hours later aired a new clip of the interview with Oprah Winfrey that seems to answer the controversy even though it was recorded well in advance. Like in a soap, it's all about timing.
"La Firme", a qualifier to distance oneself from the Windsors
Meghan, pregnant with her second child, lashes out at the royal family she calls her less chic nickname as if to distance herself further. "I don't know how they could expect that after all this time we could just remain silent, if the Firm is playing an active role in peddling lies about us (...). it means risking losing things ... So much has already been lost, "she said. A nod to the last official titles which were withdrawn from them in mid-February or to the alleged fratricidal war between William and Harry which has been agitating the tabloids for months?
"Raging assistants, sources and friends are a reminder that the consequences of Megxit are as toxic as what happened before," former royal correspondent Peter Hunt summed up nicely. Some media are calling for a truce and calling for a postponement of the broadcast of the interview at Oprah's house, at least until Prince Philip is released from the hospital recovering from heart surgery. And then like in every soap, there are these characters that we put aside without forgetting that they are perhaps the worst in history.
If there is one who takes advantage of the sudden light shining on Meghan and Harry, it’s Prince Andrew. Persona non grata since his name was involved in the Epstein scandal, the youngest son of the queen continues to live far from the flashes of the paparazzi who leave him a royal peace. The tabloid press that the Sussexes hate so much has become this week the mere relay of official communications from two camps. The timing, again. As a final blow of claw, Elizabeth II will address the British nation on television a few hours before the broadcast of the interview of her grandchildren at Oprah. But should only evoke Commonwealth Day. Unless she comes to hide messages in her speech ... From Meghan and Harry or from the royal family, who is telling the truth? The question will undoubtedly never be decided, giving rise to fear that this princely soap will continue again and again. After all, The Young and the Restless have been on the air for almost 50 years.
