The Subtle Sign One Of Harry & Meghan's Closest Allies Is Turning On Them

It's no secret that Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have burned some bridges since deciding to step away from their royal duties and move across the pond to live in a mansion in Montecito, California. Throughout their high-profile romance, the couple has discovered that friends are hard to come by, and they now may be slowly losing one of their closest allies. In July 2025, their pal and Montecito neighbor, Oprah Winfrey, took what appeared to be a playful swipe at the pair during an appearance on the "Let's Talk Off Camera" podcast.

Host Kelly Ripa chatted with Oprah about the idea of getting baby chicks as a present, and the famed media mogul joked that it wouldn't be the kind of gift she'd really appreciate. So, Oprah joked that she'd "run them straight over to the Sussexes," with an attempt at a pronunciation that included several extra syllables. The light linguistic jab at the confusing pluralization of their last name came after Meghan famously insisted on no longer going by the surname Markle, but instead Sussex. So it begs the question: could there be some underlying tensions there between the Sussexes and Oprah? 

As it turns out, Oprah previously helped Harry and Meghan out when they had a duck problem of their own. Oprah recalled that Harry begged her to take some baby ducks that had been born in their yard because Oprah had a pond on her property. The whole thing turned into a comedy bit eventually when the royal couple and Oprah had to run around chasing after the mama duck while balancing a box of baby chicks. "It was the funniest thing I've ever seen," Oprah laughed.

While a few of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's famous neighbors seemingly want nothing to do with the couple, Oprah Winfrey has been supportive of the pair for years, and she became inexorably linked to the controversial couple when she sat down with them for a tell-all interview in 2021, in which the world learned a slew of stunning and interesting things about their experiences as members of the royal family, and why they chose to move away.

Some of the claims made by Harry and Meghan shocked Oprah as much as they did the rest of the world. "I was doing an interview to offer them a platform to tell their story about why they left," Oprah explained during an appearance on CBS Mornings in September 2022. "Some of the things that were revealed in that interview came as a surprise to me... but I didn't set out to do a bombshell interview." While Harry and Meghan shared their truth, many royal experts felt that the interview may have been a huge mistake for the couple from a PR standpoint.

Apart from Oprah's recent playful teasing about their royal surnames, she's remained vocally supportive and positive about the former royal. However, the same can't be said for some of the hosts from "The View," who recently risked starting a feud of their own by taking swipes at Harry after the prince spoke out about the challenges he's faced trying to reconcile with his father, King Charles III. In a break from their past support of Harry and Meghan, the hosts were critical of Harry's excuses and remarks, making it feel like the couple has burned yet another bridge when it comes to public support.