How long were Harry and Meghan planning to leave the royal family?
It might have been since the very beginning.
But do they regret their decision now?
Keep watching to learn what royal watchers now believe about the couple's controversial
moves.
Long before their bombshell interview, Oprah Winfrey was present at the 2018 wedding of
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, despite the fact that she didn't know the couple all that
well at the time.
If certain commentators are to be believed, the legendary talk show host was invited for
one very strategic reason — so the Sussexes could network and potentially stake a claim
for themselves as celebrities in their own right.
Three years after their 2018 wedding, Meghan and Harry sat down with Winfrey for their
first major interview following their 2020 exit from the royal family.
Royal expert and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown asserts in her book "The Palace
Papers" that, at the couple's wedding,
"[Winfrey and other guests] were a portrait not of Meghan's intimate circle but of the
friends she most wanted to recruit into her inner circle."
The Mirror elaborates further, noting that, during a recent appearance on their "Pod Save
the Queen" podcast, royal watcher Andrew Morton revealed,
"Harry was having conversations in a London hotel with Oprah Winfrey back in November
2018, just six months after they'd been married.
[...] So they were thinking about a different direction of travel pretty early on."
Harry reportedly saw marrying the American actor as his way to finally break free of
the monarchy, with the Sussexes even considering relocating to New Zealand at one stage, though
that ultimately didn't pan out.
"We can just take a step back.
We can do it in a Commonwealth country.
We had suggested New Zealand, South Africa."
"Take a breath."
Omid Scobie, author of "Finding Freedom" and a close friend of Meghan Markle and Prince
Harry, wrote in an article for Harper's Bazaar surrounding their exit that discussions over
the couple's future plans had been taking place for months prior to the big announcement.
The announcement was only rushed out because of a tabloid leak.
As a result, the couple felt "cornered," an insider shared.
The insider continued,
"It was a case of act now or lose control of something they had spent a long time working
on."
Any suggestions that senior members of the royal family were shocked by the Sussexes'
decision to leave were wildly inaccurate, the source said, adding,
"Nobody was 'incandescent with rage' and nobody is about to punish anyone.
The speed at which this now needs to be dealt with is not ideal, but the plans themselves
are not a problem.
This is not a 'crisis,' it's a case of helping the couple reach their goal."
The Evening Standard reported that Harry intended to speak privately with the queen, but she
only agreed to sit down with him after the prince had a proper discussion with his father
to figure out the best way forward.
Her Majesty wanted to keep it quiet until then.
"When we were in Canada, I had three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations
with my father, before he stopped taking my calls."
Once the Sussexes' plans were leaked to the press, however, everybody was left scrambling.
It was a tough situation, but in the end, Meghan and Harry got exactly what they wanted.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry haven't given any indication that they regret leaving the
royal family, but that hasn't stopped multiple people from claiming that they have a few.
Sharon Osbourne discussed the matter while covering the queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration
weekend, opposite Piers Morgan, on Fox News.
She said the royal family's drama reminded her of a Shakespeare play, saying that she
felt sorry for Harry and Meghan considering how they were "parted" from the rest of the
family.
Morgan fought back, wondering aloud why anyone would empathize with people who'd publicly
criticized their own family.
Osbourne replied, speaking about Harry,
"I do feel sorry for him because I think that there must be a huge part of him that regrets
— I mean, can you imagine how he felt yesterday?"
She added that the prince must have found it tough not to be involved with the Trooping
the Color event alongside the rest of his family.
Tina Brown echoed Osbourne's comments, telling the BBC it was very obvious that the Sussexes
had also been shunted aside at the queen's thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral.
Brown argued,
"I feel they are trying to work their way back in through the corners and I don't think
it will ever be what it was.
And that's entirely self-inflicted."
Worse still, the royal expert believes that Meghan and Harry defected for nothing, contending
they have yet to achieve anything they set out to do upon leaving.
Speculation has been swirling for months that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are planning
a second Oprah interview, especially following the release of Tina Brown's book, "The Palace
Papers."
A source told Heat magazine,
"These latest claims have really gotten under Meghan's skin.
She's told her team that something needs to be done.
She's so sick of the negative headlines and she's desperate to come out fighting with
some major damage control."
As a result, the duchess has decided that sitting down with the media mogul again may
be the best way to set the record straight once and for all.
Brown's book reportedly details how much Meghan despised being a working royal, including
complaining constantly about everything.
Tellingly, the royal expert confirmed it was Meghan's dislike for the role that motivated
Harry to finally give up his title.
Brown said,
"Meghan certainly saw the deals that were there to be made because they were royals.
It's as though she couldn't resist everything that was on offer on the celebrity buffet."
In late June 2022, the Daily Mail confirmed that the Sussexes had paid Winfrey a visit,
spending around an hour chatting in her home.
The couple was spotted driving to the meeting from their Montecito home, which is only a
short distance from Winfrey's home.
If a new interview is in the works, we'll know about it before too long.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more List videos about the British royal family are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.