Oprah with Harry and Meghan: A CBS Primetime Special

[Growsonwalls]

Wow was not expecting Harry to have a bigger rift with Charles than William. That's the biggest surprise.

[meatball77]

Hmmm, the crown suggested that she continue acting.

We still haven't heard a postive word about William.  The Queen is a lovely grandmother, Kate can apologize if she is wrong.  Charles is an uncaring jerk who wouldn't stand up for his wife or his son or grandchild.  William ?????

[Enero]

The fact that they wanted Meghan to keep her acting job and were saying they couldn’t protect her speaks volumes. They never wanted Harry to marry her and were gone make it difficult for them if the marriage went through. 

[Kromm]

Just now, Spartan Girl said:

Neither of them have said anything bad about Will and Kate and yet people are still drawing their own conclusions. Yeah it does sound like there is tension but siblings grow apart and all this mess didn’t help matters, I’m sure.

My sniffer sniffs this. 

Charles was the heavy.  The two boys fell out because William got put in the middle. Harry was looking for his brother to speak up for him and it rarely to never happened. 

The crap with Kate was on top of that. It couldn't help that nobody on that side EVER spoke up about the racial stuff, the unfair side by side headlines, etc. 

[Growsonwalls]

2 minutes ago, meatball77 said:

Hmmm, the crown suggested that she continue acting.

We still haven't heard a postive word about William.  The Queen is a lovely grandmother, Kate can apologize if she is wrong.  Charles is an uncaring jerk who wouldn't stand up for his wife or his son or grandchild.  William ?????

I'm guessing the relationship with William is maybe on the mend which is why Harry doesn't want to say anything? Meghan seems to say that Kate is a reasonable person.

[Calvada]

It is sad that it seems his best relationship is with his grandmother, who probably will be around for only a few more years, and that he seems to be so distanced from his father and brother.  I think his mother would not be so surprised about the situation with Charles, but would be devastated that he and William would be estranged.  

[dubbel zout]

The thing about the royal family being terrified that the papers would turn on them is so sad. I totally believe that. I don't think there's a press that's as vicious as the British tabloids. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Harry and Meghan eventually do ease back into royal duties a bit.

[meatball77]

1 minute ago, Growsonwalls said:

Wow was not expecting Harry to have a bigger rift with Charles than William. That's the biggest surprise.

It makes sense when you think of their history.  Harry is Diana's son and Charles was the man who treated his mother like crap (and Harry wasn't living at home with his father after she died).

I'm interested to see how this is spun.  It's not like the UK loves Charles.

[Arkay]

I definitely feel for Meghan if she had suicidal thoughts, even if on the outside looking in, it's not always easy to understand why. I still do not believe her about a lot of things she says.

Being a royal is not the only job where you have to be "on" when you're at work, no matter what's going on in your personal life or how challenging life is at the moment. I'm a teacher and have had to dry the tears and be "on" more times than I can count. I'm sure the same is true for so many of us on this site. Any job in which you deal with people, whether it's customer service or whatever, demands this. 

If they wanted a private life away from all this, I get that as well. However, go live in a two-bedroom apartment, in a much less expensive city than Santa Barbara, and live that life. All the wealth and fortune they now have is solely due to Harry's position. Maybe they did want to be part-timers and support the queen as Meghan alludes to with other royal family members. But by packing up and moving to another continent, they did make that impossible. 

I was excited when Meghan joined the family. I was confused, though, as to how throughly she dismissed her father, and I do think this is a pattern that causes wrenching pain to everyone. 

[Growsonwalls]

Just now, meatball77 said:

It makes sense when you think of their history.  Harry is Diana's son and Charles was the man who treated his mother like crap (and Harry wasn't living at home with his father after she died).

I'm interested to see how this is spun.  It's not like the UK loves Charles.

It does, but still surrpising. I am actually wondering if Charles' office put out some of the leaks about the "rift" between William and Harry to sort of avoid the fact that he wasn't being a good father.

[Snow Apple]

1 minute ago, WinnieWinkle said:

It surprised me!  I don't really read much royal news though so I guess I was still thinking back to the wedding when Charles walked Meghan down the aisle and seemed so kind to her mother.  I'd like to think his behavior then was the real Charles but I am thinking, no, it probably wasn't.

Me too. I've felt dislike or felt neutral about Charles throughout the decades but started to like him when he walked Megan down the aisle. I thought he liked, supported, and accepted Megan. Now I don't know if he really felt that way at the time or was just making himself look good.

[Enero]

I understand why all of the footage of Archie is never in color due to the racist family and media etc. Disgusting and sad. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 minute ago, Enero said:

I understand why all of the footage of Archie is never in color due to the racist family and media etc. Disgusting and sad. 

Do I use the "shock" or do I use the "useful" emoticon?  Goddamn.  I didn't even know or think about this.  My god.

[meatball77]

2 minutes ago, Enero said:

I understand why all of the footage of Archie is never in color due to the racist family and media etc. Disgusting and sad. 

I think that it's also for the same reason that Williams kids dress like it's 1940.  It's to make them more anonymous.  Archie can go to the park with his babysitter and no one would recognize him.  It sounds like they are getting regular death threats and need the safety

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think that a lot of the uproar over Meghan giving birth at another hospital than the one with the photo op outside was driven by the despicable speculation over Archie's skin color.      That was also another reason that the introduction of Archie was such a big deal when Harry and Meghan did actually present him.  

In a family where Princess Michael wears that horrible racist broach to the luncheon for Meghan, and no one says anything to her about it, then that told me everything I wanted to know about the attitudes about her.      I can imagine quite a few of the family speculating about Archie's complexion, and the little girl they're having too.   

[Kromm]

It's 3am in London. Busy little "Royal Observers" are calling their stylists and makeup teams to get them ready to tear Harry (but mostly Meghan) a new one in 4 or 5 hours on their crappy Morning chat shows.  The newspaper people are starting their first drafts for a 5am deadline.  It's going to be predictable, and bloody, and virtually none of them are going to have anything nice to say about what we heard here. There will be WhatAbouts and diversionary arguments aplenty. 

[meatball77]

So, what are we all finding the most shocking

The racism with Archie's birth
That they thought that Megan should continue acting after getting married
That Charles is the villain. 
It's a girl!
The Chickens

[Straycat80]

This was really an explosive interview! They said a lot that is really going to piss off the UK press and Piers Morgan. Unfortunately I think this will cause more distance between Harry and his Dad and brother.

I was hoping Oprah would have asked about her Dad, that letter she wrote to him that got keaked, the crazy half-sister ( some of the negative press was caused by them), and the whole private jet fiasco. 

[deaja]

Please remember the instructions in the thread that this thread is for discussion of the interview/coverage and not general Royal Family chatter.

[DearEvette]

3 minutes ago, meatball77 said:

So, what are we all finding the most shocking

The racism with Archie's birth
That they thought that Megan should continue acting after getting married
That Charles is the villain. 
It's a girl!
The Chickens

That Meghan was actually feeling suicidal. 

And that because she got no support from the family, she felt she had to go the Human Resources as a last resort to get help.

Overall this was a good interview but it made me feel sad for them when Tyler Perry does more to help than your own family....

Edited March 8, 2021 by DearEvette

[deaja]

2 minutes ago, meatball77 said:

So, what are we all finding the most shocking

The racism with Archie's birth
That they thought that Megan should continue acting after getting married
That Charles is the villain. 
It's a girl!
The Chickens

I think the two most shocking parts to me were the concern over Archie’s skin tone and the lack of protection being offered.

[Growsonwalls]

1 minute ago, meatball77 said:

So, what are we all finding the most shocking

The racism with Archie's birth
That they thought that Megan should continue acting after getting married
That Charles is the villain. 
It's a girl!
The Chickens

I thought the "Charles is the villain" is the biggest shocker. We had gotten a lot of hints that maybe Kate and William were snotty and insensitive. But Harry makes it clear that it's Charles who was the big problem. I was not expecting that.

The idea that Meghan should continue acting -- that one I actually am going to defend the Firm. They have been pushing for royals to keep their jobs. I think part of it was the depression and agita many royals had -- maybe they felt that if Meghan enjoyed shooting Suits, why not take acting gigs on the side?

[Nidratime]

Being "hung up on protection" isn't a small issue. He is a mixed raced prince -- the first ever -- who would have to contend with racist in the U.K. Do you think this is nothing?

[Straycat80]

4 minutes ago, meatball77 said:

So, what are we all finding the most shocking

The racism with Archie's birth
That they thought that Megan should continue acting after getting married
That Charles is the villain. 
It's a girl!
The Chickens

All of that, well, not the gender reveal or the chickens lol! Not having protection or support seemed to have been their major concerns as well. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Straycat80

[meatball77]

1 minute ago, Growsonwalls said:

Charles' relationship with his parents probably damaged him more than anything else. They were shit parents. When Charles had measles his mother didn't visit him but sent him a "farewell" letter.

It's totally not a surprise that Charles is not the father he needed to be for Harry. You don't just fix those tough, mean, "get over it" mindsets overnight.

The entire British upperclass parenting style is screwed up.  I can not imagine sending an eight year old to boarding school (there's a really sad documentary on youtube about it), it creates a real disconnect for kids from their parents (and makes their school friends more family than their actual family).  They did send the boys to a kinder school than the one that Charles was sent to by Phillip but it's still essentially leaving your family at eight.

[deaja]

13 minutes ago, Arkay said:

I definitely feel for Meghan if she had suicidal thoughts, even if on the outside looking in, it's not always easy to understand why. I still do not believe her about a lot of things she says.

Being a royal is not the only job where you have to be "on" when you're at work, no matter what's going on in your personal life or how challenging life is at the moment. I'm a teacher and have had to dry the tears and be "on" more times than I can count. I'm sure the same is true for so many of us on this site. Any job in which you deal with people, whether it's customer service or whatever, demands this. 

If they wanted a private life away from all this, I get that as well. However, go live in a two-bedroom apartment, in a much less expensive city than Santa Barbara, and live that life. All the wealth and fortune they now have is solely due to Harry's position. Maybe they did want to be part-timers and support the queen as Meghan alludes to with other royal family members. But by packing up and moving to another continent, they did make that impossible. 

I was excited when Meghan joined the family. I was confused, though, as to how throughly she dismissed her father, and I do think this is a pattern that causes wrenching pain to everyone. 

They didn’t move away until they were told being part timers was not an option for them. 
 

They said they wanted to live as private citizens, not to live privately. I think they both know they would never be able to live completely privately. Their wealth was inherited- yes, because Harry’s mom was married to Prince Charles, but that’s not something they can undo.

[PepSinger]

14 minutes ago, Arkay said:

excited when Meghan joined the family. I was confused, though, as to how throughly she dismissed her father,

Why was there confusion? Her father repeatedly talked to the press and released a private letter to the public. Her father earned that dismissal.

[meatball77]

2 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

I thought the "Charles is the villain" is the biggest shocker. We had gotten a lot of hints that maybe Kate and William were snotty and insensitive. But Harry makes it clear that it's Charles who was the big problem. I was not expecting that.

The idea that Meghan should continue acting -- that one I actually am going to defend the Firm. They have been pushing for royals to keep their jobs. I think part of it was the depression and agita many royals had -- maybe they felt that if Meghan enjoyed shooting Suits, why not take acting gigs on the side?

Can you imagine the press if she had dared to do that though?  Didn't they already have a fit about Megan doing voiceover work?

1 minute ago, PepSinger said:

Why was there confusion? Her father repeatedly talked to the press and released a private letter to the public. Her father earned that dismissal.

Yeah, I don't understand how anyone can see her father as the injured one in that party.  Absentee father wants to cash in on his now famous daughter and won't stop trying to go to the press.

[doodlebug]

56 minutes ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Exactly.  Harry may be the Queen's grandchild but he is also the son of the future King.  That alone would and should make a difference to any titles his children would have.  At least I think it should anyway!

It's gotten a little weird in that the Queen is so old and has reigned so long.  It's been a long, long time since a reigning monarch had great grandchildren, so there really isn't a lot of precedent or procedure to assign titles to the kids of the kid's kids. Prince Charles was only 4 when his mother became Queen, nobody was even concerned about grandkids, let alone great grands at that point. Though they were careful not to name names, it sounds to me like a lot of this is coming from Charles and his supporters.  Harry sounds pretty pissed at him.  And, as Meghan pointed out, what with all the racial undertones as well as the numerous threats they received, her greatest concern was that, along with deciding that Archie would not be given the title of Prince, he also would not be eligible for royal security.  Once again, they're all faced with a situation that really hasn't happened in modern times and they're writing the book as they go.  Charles is well known to prefer a pared down royal family and also to have insisted that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie give up their security details a few years back as a cost cutting measure, much to Andrew's dismay.  I think he decided that was now the precedent, that only full time working royals would received a security detail.

 

53 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I call BS that Meghan didn’t know she was supposed to curtsy to the queen.

She said that she didn't realize it was something they even do in private at casual gatherings.  I think she knew very well that there were various public occasions where she would be expected to curtsy to the Queen, just not when dropping by for lunch with Eugenie and her family.  The mental image of Fergie showing her how to do it properly out on the driveway before they went into the house was unexpected.

 

[Kromm]

2 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

I thought the "Charles is the villain" is the biggest shocker.

I wasn't shocked by that as much as shocked by how easily time had made me forget most the shitty things he did in the past. As soon as I started thinking about which family member would realistically have had those conversations with Harry, it clicked, and I started thinking more about Charles' past, and that clicked too. 

We got fooled by the faux niceness when he walked Meghan down the aisle. 

[Kromm]

3 minutes ago, meatball77 said:

I don't understand how anyone can see her father as the injured one in that party.  Absentee father wants to cash in on his now famous daughter and won't stop trying to go to the press.

Piers Morgan screams at the top of his lungs about this constantly.  Some people hear that and just bend to the hurricane of noise. 

I suppose Oprah didn't go into this because it's been well hashed out for the public already, whereas the circumstances about their actual step away from duties and titles hasn't been. 

[Growsonwalls]

3 minutes ago, Kromm said:

I wasn't shocked by that as much as shocked by how easily time had made me forget most the shitty things he did in the past. As soon as I started thinking about which family member would realistically have had those conversations with Harry, it clicked, and I started thinking more about Charles' past, and that clicked too. 

We got fooled by the faux niceness when he walked Meghan down the aisle. 

True. The reveal was so dramatic. Meghan already clarified that Kate wasn't the problem. The Queen wasn;t the problem. Harry didn;t say anything about William being the problem. But Charles: HE IS THE PROBLEM.

[ParadoxLost]

6 minutes ago, Kromm said:

I wasn't shocked by that as much as shocked by how easily time had made me forget most the shitty things he did in the past. As soon as I started thinking about which family member would realistically have had those conversations with Harry, it clicked, and I started thinking more about Charles' past, and that clicked too. 

We got fooled by the faux niceness when he walked Meghan down the aisle. 

And a lot of the press about what would happen when the government stopped handling security was basically Harry is Charles' kid so he'll be paying for security, etc and its not a big deal.

But Charles cut them off.  It sounds to me like Charles is making or heavily influencing all these decisions and how they are playing out in the press.

Edited March 8, 2021 by ParadoxLost

[emma675]

I'm floored by all of it, tbh. Meghan's suicidal thoughts, the worry about Archie's skin tone, Charles being an utter ass in all ways, that they revealed the new baby's gender. I'm so glad they decided to get away from all of it, Harry seems to have learned a lot of lasting lessons from Diana's treatment and death. 

Charles had me fooled when he walked Meghan down the aisle. I thought maybe he had lightened up and grown wiser with age, but it turns out the asshole has still been there all along. 

[Growsonwalls]

Just now, ParadoxLost said:

And a lot of the press about what would happen when the government stopped handling it was basically Harry is Charles' kid so he'll be paying for security, etc and its not a big deal.

But Charles cut them off.  It sounds to me like Charles is making or heavily influencing how all these decisions are being made and how they are playing out in the press.

Ooh I kind of wonder if Charles is angry that William and Harry are both using their mothers' inheritance? I could see him being petty enough to be mad about that.

[dubbel zout]

2 minutes ago, deaja said:

They didn’t move away until they were told being part timers was not an option for them. 

I wonder why it wasn't an option, especially at the beginning of the marriage. Seems to me that would be good for everyone—it gives the new member of the family a bit of breathing room to learn the ropes and get used to their new situation. 

1 minute ago, Kromm said:

We got fooled by the faux niceness when he walked Meghan down the aisle. 

I don't think that was faux. People can do nice things, mean them, and also be assholes in other ways.

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, Kromm said:

I wasn't shocked by that as much as shocked by how easily time had made me forget most the shitty things he did in the past. As soon as I started thinking about which family member would realistically have had those conversations with Harry, it clicked, and I started thinking more about Charles' past, and that clicked too. 

We got fooled by the faux niceness when he walked Meghan down the aisle. 

I agree, I think it is also fairly well known that Charles knows he is not hugely popular and is concerned about what will happen when his mother dies.  We've all heard people say that he should be passed over and William should be crowned which, of course, will never, ever happen.  Charles is far more likely to be affected by any publicity good or bad and want them all to constantly put on a brave face and not tick the press off.  He's worried about the image of the royal family and his own future as King.  He has also been living in a bubble of privilege his entire life and I think he is used to first and foremost considering how any little word or action might affect the monarchy, HIS monarchy.  I could see him discovering the more racist aspects of the news coverage of Meghan and the baby and his first thought being 'How is it going to look if the royal family includes my biracial grandchildren?'  'What is the press going to say about the family pictures from Trooping the Color if my grandchild(ren) have dark skin?'  He is just that shallow and superficial.

[Cocoa Puff]

51 minutes ago, nichelle said:

It only takes one drop.

That's what the racist's used to say, hell still say ESPECIALLY here in the deep south. When the slave masters used to 

Spoiler

rape the slave women

and the mulatto babies would come they'd still be BLACK because of the "one drop rule.

I wasn't that shocked by that all white monarchy/family being clueless on what complexion Archie would be. Wasn't there some YouTube "star" with her dark Chocolate husband, had a child and she made a video about how "dark" child was. Like "they" lust after Black people and hope their mixed raced child will come out "so pretty" with these caucasian features only to be disappointed that the Black DNA is a bit stronger than the Caucasian half.

 

I am happy for Harry and Megan that now they'll be able to raise their children in peace and they'll have somewhat a normal childhood. Like Harry said, he can take Archie on a bike ride, they can go to the beach.

1 minute ago, emma675 said:

Charles had me fooled when he walked Meghan down the aisle. I thought maybe he had lightened up and grown wiser with age, but it turns out the asshole has still been there all along.

No that was the machine at work keeping up appearances like Harry and Meghan said. 

[MerBearHou]

So now that they’ve aired this interview, who thinks we won’t hear from them and they’ll be done with the media in all its forms?

Edited March 8, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Growsonwalls]

Ooh as I said, now that I think back ... I wonder if it's Charles who made the comment about Archie;s skin.

[ouinason]

1 minute ago, MerBearHou said:

So now that they’ve aired this interview, who thinks we won’t hear from them and they’ll be done with the press?

Well, considering they are working in media and charity.... nobody.

[irisheyes]

27 minutes ago, Calvada said:

It is sad that it seems his best relationship is with his grandmother, who probably will be around for only a few more years, and that he seems to be so distanced from his father and brother.  I think his mother would not be so surprised about the situation with Charles, but would be devastated that he and William would be estranged.  

In his James Corden interview, he talked about how he zooms with his grandparents. While the Queen was a pretty absent mother, I think she’s been better at being Grandmummy. I still think the press debacle in 1997 after Diana died was because the Queen was focused on William and Harry and ignored her duty to country (for once).

I’m gobsmacked by almost everything in that interview. Like, speechless. I knew the Windsors took dysfunction to a whole new level, but Meghan’s treatment was unbelievable. 
On a side note, Harry’s grin when he told Oprah that the baby is a girl was everything. 

[blixie]

Quote

Wow was not expecting Harry to have a bigger rift with Charles than William. That's the biggest surprise.

I still feel the rift is bigger with Will, at this moment in time at least. He said his dad he are talking while with William he said there was "space" which reads as currently estranged. My guess is more than one person made a comment about Archie's skin. He didn't wanna single out because it wasn't single.

[Crs97]

I missed the first hour so will have to watch that part.  One thing Harry said that confused me was that he was ashamed to tell the family how much Meghan was struggling.  Earlier he had said that he kept asking for help and was rebuffed.  Did I miss something that would help that make sense?

[Kromm]

1 minute ago, MerBearHou said:

So now that they’ve aired this interview, who thinks we won’t hear from them and they’ll be done with the press?

They have to do press for their other endeavours. Which are mostly media based. They just won't answer questions about this in any of those. 

The problem of course is that the Royal vultures, er, I mean Royal watchers, always attack based on their "privacy" lawsuit and peddle all media appearances as them being liars and hypocrites. 

[MerBearHou]

3 minutes ago, irisheyes said:

Meghan’s treatment was unbelievable. 

“Unbelievable” is the operative word to me.  I don’t believe the majority of this.  One sided, craftily prepared, carefully acted.

Edited March 8, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Arkay]

I agree with Harry that Charles and William are trapped, as they must be kings. The same for George. But with that unbearable responsibility comes a lifestyle and privileges that very few people will ever have. 

I thought Oprah did a decent job, but I do wish she'd asked Meghan more about her father. Also, as superficial as this is, I don't think Oprah's hairstyle was flattering to her. 

[PepSinger]

Just now, Crs97 said:

I missed the first hour so will have to watch that part.  One thing Harry said that confused me was that he was ashamed to tell the family how much Meghan was struggling.  Earlier he had said that he kept asking for help and was rebuffed.  Did I miss something that would help that make sense?

What I think he was trying to say was that at first he didn't say anything, but eventually he did. When he did, they still didn't do anything to help.

[Cocoa Puff]

3 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

So now that they’ve aired this interview, who thinks we won’t hear from them and they’ll be done with the media in all its forms?

Yeah they are done, unless they themselves release something like they did with the second baby announcement or do another Oprah interview. They did a gender reveal, and answered ALL the questions about the rumors about them. 

[ParadoxLost]

1 minute ago, dubbel zout said:

I wonder why it wasn't an option, especially at the beginning of the marriage. Seems to me that would be good for everyone—it gives the new member of the family a bit of breathing room to learn the ropes and get used to their new situation. 

They don't care about the new family member.  The tabloids will always have a villain and if its not going to be Meghan then who will it be.  No one else in the family wants to find out.

That everything turned when Meghan did her first tour and was extremely well received, like Diana, made it seem like someone (probably Charles) threw Meghan to the tabloids because they didn't want her to eclipse those more direct in line to the throne in popularity.