If there is one thing Oprah Winfrey's conversation with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has done,
its revived interest in a number of old interviews, like how John Oliver
once warned the American actress about marrying into the British Royal Family.
"They're an emotionally stunted group of fundamentally flawed people doing a
very silly pseudo-job. That's what she's marrying into."
Now, with Piers Morgan in the doghouse over the comments he made
questioning Markle's story, an old interview which possibly explains
why Morgan feels so strongly about the Duchess of Sussex has resurfaced, too.
Even before Morgan lost his job over his controversial comments,
criticizing Markle had become something of a brand for the British television personality.
In the past, he'd made national and international headlines for calling The Duke and Duchess
of Sussex "shameless hypocrites," and for asserting that they "despise" the royal family,
according to the Irish Post. His attacks had become so intense by 2020 that Morgan
admitted publicly to having crossed a line. He reflected to The Sunday Times,
"Do I think that will govern and temper how I talk about them going forward?
Absolutely. [...] It's probably not wise, if you're a columnist, to make things too personal."
Clearly, despite his commitment to do so,
Morgan was unable to hold back. And a 2018 video, making the rounds on Twitter,
may give us a hint as to his lack of restraint. In the interview, Morgan says Markle "ghosted"
him after they met up in a bar for drinks in 2016. He explained on The Late Late Show,
"We spent two hours in a pub, she had a couple of dirty martinis,
I had a couple of pints, we got on brilliantly."
After their meet-up, Markle went to a party where
she was eventually introduced to Prince Harry. Morgan added,
"And then the next night, [Harry and Meghan] had a solo dinner together,
and that's the last I ever heard from Meghan Markle."
"And I have never heard from her again."
Morgan claims he and Meghan followed each other on social media before they met up at a pub.
The British broadcaster has even tweeted a 2015 screenshot of what he claims to be
a private message from Meghan, in which Meghan calls herself a "big fan" of his.
If you believe Morgan, that message was the beginning of a virtual friendship.
Shortly after Prince Harry and Markle's engagement announcement, Morgan told Good Morning Britain,
"We then spent the next year trading funny messages,
then she began emailing me the Suits episodes early."
Back then, Morgan hadn't turned against her. Instead, he praised
the soon-to-be duchess as "confident, nice, normal, smart [and] talented."
"This is why it hurts. I really liked her. I just think she's a slight social climber, I'm afraid."
If there is more to that story, neither Morgan nor Markle are spilling the beans. Not surprisingly,
social media is more than a bit creeped out by Morgan's three-year-old confession,
and many took him to task for what they felt was
an unhealthy obsession with the Duchess of Sussex. One social media user wrote,
"Oh so he got quietly rejected. But he didn't even have a chance though. And after seeing
the clip of him putting his colleague on blast on TV for her outfit THIS MORNING.
It's probably that Meghan felt pretty uncomfortable around him & his misogyny."
Another Twitter user quipped:
"So a family having their lives destroyed by the British press is all just about a gross
old man being rejected by a beautiful young woman. Sounds about white."
And a third person wrote,
"I am always amazed when guys say 'we got on brilliantly' and can't understand why 'I never
heard from her again'; dude, she couldn't get out of there quick enough; stop whining,
take it on board and improve yourself."
According to CNN, Markle has also spoken out against Morgan. She reached out to
Good Morning Britain after Morgan went on air and openly discredited her account of having
thoughts of taking her own life during her time as part of the royal family.
Markle was supposedly not personally offended, but instead concerned about
how Morgan's comments might, quote, "degrade the seriousness of mental health issues."
Variety reports that after receiving over 40,000 complaints,
the United Kingdom's office of communications confirmed they were officially "launch[ing] an
investigation" into Piers Morgan's comments "under [their] harm and offence rules."
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