The Interview That Destroyed Meghan Markle's Reputation

On March 7, 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex appeared on television alongside Oprah Winfrey in what would prove to be a shocking tell-all interview. Prior to that big moment, Harry and Meghan had been beloved members of the British royal family. Although their suggestion to "half" participate in the monarchy had not been particularly popular among royalists, there was considerable empathy for the Sussexes' position as the "spare" couple. Their interview with Oprah, however, changed everything.

The conversation between Oprah, Harry, and Meghan was controversial from the start. As members of the British royal family, Harry and Meghan were expected to abide by the monarchy's infamous public relations rule: Never complain, never explain. By recording an interview with Oprah, though, they would be breaking all sorts of intense royal rules. Before the interview even aired, some royal watchers already opposed it vehemently. Others, though, were itching to hear what the Sussexes had to say.

When the interview finally hit TV screens across the globe, viewers were rattled by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big Oprah revelations. Apparently, while Meghan was pregnant with Prince Archie, members of the royal family had speculated about the color of the unborn baby's skin. Meghan also described the way her mental health declined during her time as a working royal. While these stories were certainly important to share with the public, other elements of the interview created controversy. The reason? Not all of the couple's claims checked out.

In their interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a shocking claim about their nuptials. Apparently Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big televised wedding had not been the real ceremony. "You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that," Meghan told Oprah, as reported by The Guardian. "But we called the archbishop, and we just said, 'Look, this thing, this spectacle, is for the world, but we want our union between us.'" The duchess then said that they had a private wedding, "Just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury."

While this description of a garden elopement may sound romantic, it would also be illegal. Days after Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah went live, the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had to come rushing to his own defense. "The legal wedding was on the Saturday. I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offense if I signed it knowing it was false," he said per the same report in the Guardian. The archbishop then went on to clarify that he had enjoyed "a number of private and pastoral meetings" with Harry and Meghan prior to the wedding. Royal journalists were able to confirm Harry and Meghan's royal wedding as the legal one after consulting the General Registrar Office. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's claims about their so-called secret wedding could have just been a slip of the tongue. However, during their interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry made another statement that essentially amounted to a lie about his future plans. When Oprah asked them about the "multi-million dollar deals" they had signed with entertainment industry giants like Netflix and Spotify, Harry said that these career opportunities were "never part of the plan," according to the BBC. The prince went on to clarify, "That was suggested by somebody else by the point of where my family literally cut me off financially. And I had to afford security for us."

While this explanation may make sense at first glance, the timing of it all is much more nebulous. According to Harry in his interview with Oprah, then-Prince Charles decided to stop funding his ventures "in the first quarter of 2020." However, a report in the Daily Mail reveals that Harry and Meghan had been meeting with upper-level executives at the now-defunct streaming platform, Quibi, as far back as January 2019. In fact, before they had even been married for a year, the couple had already considered a number of projects in the entertainment industry. As a source told the outlet, "There was discussion about a sustainable travel program and another show about Harry's charity interests in Africa. There was talk about Meghan narrating a nature documentary."

Prince Harry's comments about showbiz were not the only aspect of his interview with Oprah Winfrey that seemed off. Statements made by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, about her previous knowledge of the British royal family also didn't sit well with royal watchers. Describing her choice to date Harry, the duchess claimed, "I went into it naively because I didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family." She then explained that royal gossip "wasn't something that was part of the conversation at home. It wasn't something that we followed." When Oprah then asked Meghan if she was at least "aware" of them, the duchess replied, "Yeah, of course," per Page Six.

Interestingly, however, royal journalist Andrew Morton found information that contradicts these statements. Several of the people who knew Meghan in her childhood have claimed that the now-duchess had always been interested in the royal family. "According to family friends, she was intrigued by Diana, not just for her style, but for her independent humanitarian mission, seeing her as a role model," Morton wrote in his book, "Hollywood Princess," as reported by The Sun. "Such was her interest that Suzy's mother, Sonia, even gave her a copy of my biography, 'Diana: Her True Story,' which remained on her bookshelves for the next few years." If true, these reports would indicate that Meghan was a longtime royal fan with a keen interest in Harry's family. 

Prince Archie and his titles were major themes in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey. As noted in a piece for Maclean's, Meghan claimed that the palace did not want Archie to claim a prince title. The duchess told Oprah that during her pregnancy, "They were saying they didn't want him to be a prince or princess ... which would be different from protocol." Meghan then hinted that the decision was based on race, calling it "the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be."

Writing for the previously cited report in Maclean's, royal expert Patricia Treble explained that things were not so simple. Apparently, at the time of the interview, Archie held the title of the Earl of Dumbarton. Further, royal inheritance laws indicated that Archie's prince title would be gained automatically — but only upon the coronation of his grandfather, King Charles III. This would, indeed, differentiate him from Prince William's children — Archie's cousins — who would still hold prince and princess titles, as they were further up the line of succession. This distinction was not a special attack on Archie but rather a reflection of protocol. Royal children in Archie's position, such as Princess Anne and Prince Edward's kids, have historically turned down their prince titles and opted for a more normal life.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have long harbored concerns about their security. They told Oprah Winfrey that they lost their right to security protection after quitting their royal roles. As Winfrey put it in a voiceover that played in her famous interview with Meghan and Harry, "After the move [to North America], Harry and Meghan say security, normally provided by the royal family, was cut off" (via National Post). 

Unfortunately, however, the idea that security is "normally provided by the royal family" is false. Security is arranged by the Home Office and paid for by the British taxpayer. Other blue-bloods who chose against becoming working royals (think Princess Anne's children) are not provided with royal protection. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie also famously pay for their own protection. The idea was that Harry and Meghan would not be treated any differently.

Further, in the Sussexes' case, there was a lot of governmental pressure for them to lose their internationally protected persons (IPP) status after their move to North America. The reason? IPPs are instantly granted state protection in foreign countries — protection that is paid for by foreign taxpayers. When Harry and Meghan moved to Canada and then the U.S., their initial IPP status would have forced Canadian and American citizens to pay for their security. This situation could have hurt the U.K.'s diplomatic relationship with its two Anglophone allies.

Many of the complaints listed in Oprah Winfrey's interview with Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry reflected very serious issues. Some topics, however, reflected a touch of pettiness. Such was Meghan's declaration that she was "an only child." As reported by Newsweek, the duchess stated, "I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows. And I wished I had siblings. I would have loved to have had siblings." Considering that Meghan has two half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle, that was not an entirely accurate statement.

Things were made much worse by the fact that Samantha Markle filed a lawsuit against Meghan in the aftermath of the interview with Oprah. Legal documents filed by Samantha's lawyers claimed that "Mrs. Markle was more than a model to follow, but she was also the one who regularly drove the duchess to school and helped her with homework, went on shopping trips to the local mall, and overall had a wonderful relationship with her younger sister" (via Newsweek). Meghan's legal team quickly responded to her sister's claims. Apparently, the duchess was talking about how she felt growing up rather than her biological relationship with her half-siblings. "It was a textbook example of a subjective statement about how a person feels about her childhood," they wrote. In 2025, Samantha submitted a request to appeal the original dismissal of the case. 

During her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex claimed that the palace had forced her into silence. As reported by the Daily Record, the legendary media personality asked Meghan whether she had been "silent or silenced" during her tenure as a working royal. Meghan indicated that she had, in fact, been silenced. This claim portrayed Buckingham Palace as a cold institution that had essentially imprisoned Meghan. In the same interview, the duchess also said that her personal affairs, like keys, driver's license, and passport, had been confiscated.

Reacting to these comments, the conservative British television host, Piers Morgan, told Tucker Carlson that he didn't fully understand Meghan's idea of silence. "This idea that Meghan Markle was silenced — Meghan Markle guest-edited British Vogue magazine in the middle of her silence. Meghan Markle made 73 public appearances, many of which she spoke at during her extended period of being silenced," Morgan said, according to the aforementioned piece in the Daily Record. The publication also noted that Meghan traveled quite a bit for a woman who didn't have access to her passport. While working as a full-time royal, the duchess took 14 flights. She traveled abroad several times and was photographed in places ranging from New Zealand to South Africa to the Netherlands. She even attended a baby shower in New York, casting doubt on the claims made in the interview.

If there had been just one or two inconsistencies in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's story, the couple probably would not have received so much flak. However, the sheer number of exaggerated facts and personal truths shared in the couple's interview with Oprah Winfrey led fans to doubt their story. Royal watchers began to dig into their narrative and slowly realized that there were a number of strange things about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's life after royalty. Before long, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex suffered a huge loss of popularity. Harry's approval ratings plummeted to 45%, according to Reuters, marking the first time that the prince had more haters than supporters.

This shifting dynamic was ultimately reflected on social media, where Harry and Meghan were attacked in spades. Royal watchers ripped apart their interview, oftentimes insulting them outright. An independent review by Newton Media focused specifically on online reactions in the Czech Republic. It found that 89% of users made negative comments about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As Newton Media analyst Martina Maňhalová explained, "In the contributions, it was most often said that the duchess is just an actress and her claims do not make a credible impression. According to the discussants, the royal couple intends to gain attention." This initial response did not bode well for Harry and Meghan's reputation moving forward.

Beyond the content of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey lies the issue of timing. Many fans of the British royal family were frustrated with the couple's choice to air the conversation in March 2021. At the time, Queen Elizabeth II's beloved husband, Prince Philip, was dealing with a number of health challenges, including a heart surgery that had landed him in the hospital. Per the BBC, when Harry and Meghan's interview hit the press, Philip was actually still hospitalized.

The interview was released after a royal expert asked Harry and Meghan to postpone the air date out of respect for Philip. Longtime commentator Richard Fitzwilliams was quoted by The Independent as stating, "When you are dealing with what might happen [with Philip's health], you never know, but I think [the interview] is not appropriate, and if it could possibly be postponed, I think it would be a very appropriate gesture at the moment."

Harry and Meghan's choice to move forward with the interview despite Philip's health challenges was not well received by the public. Also, the prince is said to have privately called Meghan the "DoW," or Duchess of Windsor, in reference to Wallis Simpson, whose 1936 marriage to King Edward VIII put the monarchy at risk.  

After Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex gained so much backlash, royal fans have wondered whether Oprah remains friends with the couple. Reports indicate that Oprah lives a stone's throw away from Harry and Meghan's home in Montecito, California, and apparently, they all get along just fine. That being said, Oprah hasn't been afraid to occasionally poke fun at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Chatting with Kelly Ripa on the "Let's Talk Off Camera" podcast, Oprah lightly referred to the couple as the Sussexexexs. While Ripa was laughing about baby names, Oprah joked, "I'd just take them straight to the Suss-ex-ex-exes!" She then went on to imitate Harry's British accent and giggle about the way that he rushed over to her house with a group of baby ducks.

The way that Oprah told the story seemed to imply some light mockery of the Sussex crew — a detail that Harry and Meghan were rumored to have noticed. On his #ShuterScoop substack, celebrity gossip guru Rob Shuter quoted an insider who described Harry and Meghan as "stung." Apparently, they considered Oprah an important media connection and viewed her lighthearted joking as a personal attack. "Oprah meant no harm," they said, "but Meghan and Harry are very sensitive — especially about anything that makes them sound like a meme." They summed things up: "Let's just say ... the Sussexes probably aren't clucking with joy."