Four years ago today the Duke and Duchess of Sussex filmed their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Prince Harry, then 36, and Meghan Markle, then 39, sat down with the legendary chat show host in the baking California sun to reveal ‘the truth’ about their lives in the Royal Family.
Writing in his book Charles III: The Inside Story, Mail columnist Robert Hardman described the interview as the ‘the most astonishing unburdening of family secrets since the late Princess of Wales sat down with the BBC’s Martin Bashir in 1995.’
The pair made several allegations that rocked the monarchy during the 85-minute conversation.
They claimed comments had been made about how dark Prince Archie’s skin might be when he was born, while Meghan accused Catherine, Princess of Wales, of making her cry over bridesmaid dresses just days before her wedding.
Queen Elizabeth II then issued a statement saying that the issues raised in the interview would be dealt with privately as a family, adding that ‘recollections may vary’.
Since the revelatory interview the Sussexes have been accused by the likes of Piers Morgan of lying, with the couple themselves taking back some of their statements.
Here, MailOnline takes a look at eight claims made by the Duke and Duchess in the Oprah interview – and how they stack up four years later.
Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview was filmed in California between February 16 and 18, 2021
The pair made several allegations that rocked the monarchy during the 85-minute sit-down
Harry and Meghan were married before their wedding in secret
‘Three days before our wedding, we got married,’ Meghan said. ‘No one knows that but we called the Archbishop and we just said, “Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world but we want our union [to be] between us.”‘
The world held its breath as Meghan stepped out of a carriage in a gorgeous Givenchy gown to marry her prince at St George’s Chapel on May 19, 2018.
But the couple revealed in their Oprah interview that they were allegedly married in secret three days earlier – and that the Archbishop of Canterbury led the private ceremony.
Setting the scene, Meghan said they ‘were married’ at Nottingham Cottage – their home at the time, in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
But two weeks later, these claims were blown apart when the General Registrar Office revealed the couple’s wedding certificate for the first time.
It proved they were officially married on May 19, 2018 in the lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle after all, with the witnesses recorded as Prince Charles and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
U-turning on their story, a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed to The Sun that the ceremony before the wedding only involved ‘privately exchanged personal vows’.
The Duke and Duchess smile at Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who they claim married them three days prior
U-turning on their story, a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told The Sun that the ceremony before the wedding was in fact a private exchange of ‘personal vows’
The Archbishop also denied marrying the couple before the ‘legal wedding’, claiming he simply met with them ‘in a private and pastoral setting’ beforehand.
‘The legal wedding was on the Saturday,’ said Justin Welby in an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper. ‘I signed the wedding certificate which is a legal document and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.’
Kate made Meghan cry over bridesmaid dresses
Meghan said: ‘A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining — yes, the issue was correct — about flower-girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings.’
Six months after the fairytale wedding between Meghan and Harry, headlines began circulating about a rift between the Duchess of Sussex and her sister-in-law Princess Catherine.
It was reported that Meghan left Kate ‘in tears’ over her ‘strict demands’ when it came to Princess Charlotte’s flower girl dress. But when speaking to Oprah, Meghan claimed that ‘the reverse happened’.
Expanding on the fight between his wife-to-be and sister-in-law in his memoir Spare, Prince Harry wrote that it was Meghan he found ‘on the floor sobbing’.
According to his account, four days before the May 2018 wedding Kate sent Meghan a text about her daughter Princess Charlotte crying because her dress was ‘too big, too long, too baggy’ and a terse exchange ensued in which Meghan said a tailor had been ‘waiting all day’ at Kensington Palace to make alterations.
Catherine stands with her daughter Princess Charlotte as they leave the wedding of Harry and Meghan at St George’s Chapel in 2018
It was reported that Meghan left Kate ‘in tears’ over her ‘strict demands’ when it came to Princess Charlotte’s flower girl dress. But when speaking to Oprah, Meghan claimed that ‘the reverse happened’
But recently a former member of staff clarified who had been left in tears.
‘The truth is that as with many of these spats between sisters, brothers or even sisters-in-law, both sides were really upset,’ they told royal expert Tom Quinn for his new book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, which will be released later this month.
‘During the discussions about the bridesmaid’s dress Meghan said a few things she regretted and Kate said a few things she later regretted but it was all in the heat of the moment. Both women were crying their eyes out!’
Meghan’s passport was taken when she arrived at the palace
‘You couldn’t just go,’ she said. ‘You couldn’t. I mean, you have to understand, as well, when I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver’s licence, my keys. All that gets turned over. I didn’t see any of that any more.’
In one jaw-dropping moment, Meghan claimed that her passport was taken away when she married into the royal family, with Oprah describing her as ‘trapped’.
But royal experts have since questioned this, saying that the protocols were likely in place for her own protection.
British historian Robert Lacey, who wrote the bestselling book Battle of the Brothers, told the BBC: ‘Meghan had to hand in her driving licence under security rules. If she went out driving on her own, she would not be protected.’
Meghan makes a speech during a royal visit to Cape Town in September 2019
The duchess arrives in New York ahead of her baby shower in February 2019
As for her passport, Robert Finch, Dominion Chairman of The Monarchist League of Canada, said: ‘One assumes that Royals’ valuable personal documents are kept in a safe or safes – under the eye of the overall palace security. It sounds as if it fitted Meghan’s narrative of being trapped and isolated, but really it was routine, and probably anything would be accessible to her if she wanted it.’
While Meghan may not have seen her passport when she was on official royal tours as her equerry likely dealt with border security on her behalf, she would have certainly needed it when travelling for the various personal trips she made during her time as a working royal.
In August 2018, actor George Clooney and his wife Amal sent a private jet to pick up Harry and Meghan for a party at his Lake Como villa, according to The Sun. In September 2019, the royal couple flew to Rome to attend fashion designer Misha Nonoo’s wedding. And in February 2019, Meghan flew out to New York for her own £300,000 baby shower.
All members of the Royal Family – apart from King Charles – require a passport to travel abroad.
Archie has a birthright to be a prince
Meghan said: ‘[The] idea of the first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be… It’s not their right to take it away.’
According to a birthright rule written by King George V in 1917, Archie did not have a birthright to be a prince, rather he became one when Charles was crowned King.
In 1917, George V issued a written order that only royal offspring who are in the direct line of succession could be made a prince and receive HRH titles.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex hold their son Archie in June 2020 – before he was made prince as per King George V’s written order
The Letters Patent read: ‘…the grandchildren of the sons of any such sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes of these our realms.’
Under the rules, only Prince William and Princess Catherine’s eldest son Prince George – as a great-grandson of the monarch down the direct line of succession to the throne – was originally entitled to be a prince.
The Queen stepped in ahead of George’s birth in 2013 to issue a Letters Patent to ensure all George’s siblings – as the children of future monarch William – would have fitting titles, meaning they were extended to Charlotte and Louis.
Under the George V rules, Archie and Lilibet have been referred to as prince and princess respectively since Charles ascended to the throne.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had their security unfairly revoked
‘I never thought that I would have my security removed,’ Harry said, ‘because I was born into this position. I inherited the risk. So that was a shock to me.’
During the second half of the interview, Prince Harry joins the conversation and tells Oprah that their security was unfairly revoked when they moved to Canada in late 2019.
Meghan added: ‘I even wrote letters to his family saying, “Please, it’s very clear the protection of me or Archie is not a priority. I accept that. That is fine. Please keep my husband safe. I see the death threats. I see the racist propaganda. Please keep him safe. Please don’t pull his security and announce [it] to the world when he and we are most vulnerable”. And they said it’s just not possible.’
Harry holds an umbrella for Meghan as she steps out of a car in New York in December 2022. The pair are surrounded by security guards
But being a prince or princess does not automatically mean royals have police protection. Princess Anne, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie live without taxpayer-funded security – except when they are on official duties.
Only King Charles, Camilla, Prince William and his wife Catherine – and their three children – get round-the-clock protection.
Other royals including Zara Tindall, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie do not have state-funded security at all, while Prince Andrew lost his after stepping down from royal duties in November 2019 amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Meghan didn’t Google Harry
‘Well, I didn’t do any research about what that would mean… I’d never looked up my husband online,’ the duchess told Oprah. ‘I just didn’t feel a need to because everything that I needed to know, he was sharing with me, right? Everything that he thought I needed to know, he was telling me.’
In the Oprah interview, Meghan said that she did not look up Harry online before dating him or research the Royal Family.
Harry supported this in his memoir Spare in which he recounted a conversation where Meghan asked him who the ‘Queen’s assistant’ was, referring to Prince Andrew. ‘She definitely hadn’t googled us,’ penned Harry.
But Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie – who is often called ‘Meghan’s mouthpiece’ – disagreed with this in their book Finding Freedom.
Harry and Meghan pose after announcing their engagement in November 2020
Writing about Harry and Meghan’s first date at Dean Street Townhouse in 2016, the authors said: ‘Naturally both participants in this blind date did their homework with a thorough Google search.’
The duchess also said she ‘didn’t do any research’ into the monarchy, ‘didn’t fully understand what the job was’, and did not grow up ‘knowing much about the Royal Family’.
But friends of the duchess have painted a different picture, revealing that she was fascinated by the royals in her youth. Ninaki Priddy, who was Meghan’s maid of honour at her first wedding to Trevor Engelson, said her friend was ‘always fascinated by the Royal Family. She wants to be Princess Diana 2.0’.
She added: ‘She had one of Princess Diana’s books [Diana: Her True Story] on her bookshelf, and even when she was with Trevor she told me she wanted to go and stay in London for at least a month. I know she used to love The Princess Diaries films.’
The mother of Suzy Ardakani, one of the duchess’s high school friends, has described how she taped Diana’s wedding and would watch it with her daughter and Meghan years later.
Meghan has not seen Samantha Markle in almost 20 years
Meghan said: ‘The last time I saw her must have been at least 18, 19 years [ago].’
During the interview Meghan distanced herself from her half-sister Samantha, who she said she hardly knew, adding that she grew up as ‘an only child’. But a photograph from 2008 – 13 years before the interview- shows Meghan with Samantha at the latter’s graduation.
A photograph shows Meghan with Samantha at her graduation in 2008 – 13 years before the interview
Samantha then slammed the royal’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, saying ‘the truth was totally ignored and omitted’ while providing photos and documents to disprove each of the Duchess of Sussex’s claims about her.
The pregnant Duchess of Sussex told Oprah that Samantha ‘doesn’t know’ her, claiming she was raised as ‘an only child’ – but her half-sister has now insisted that couldn’t be further from the truth.
‘I don’t know how she can say I don’t know her and [that] she was an only child. We’ve got photographs over a lifespan of us together. So how can she not know me?’ she told Inside Edition, while sharing images of the two women together at different stages throughout their lives.
The duchess also claimed that Samantha only changed her surname back to Markle after Meghan struck up a romance with Harry – but Samantha insisted that this claim was wholly inaccurate, and shared further evidence to refute it.
Meghan was not given any royal advice
Meghan told Oprah: ‘Unlike what you see in the movies, there’s no class on how to speak, how to cross your legs, how to be royal. There’s none of that training. That might exist for other members of the family. That was not something that was offered to me.’
Meghan claims she was not given any ‘guidance’ on how to ingratiate herself into the royal family.
The duchess claims that she was left to her own devices, ‘even down to the national anthem’, which she had to Google the lyrics to ‘late at night’.
Meghan does a curtsy to Queen Elizabeth after the Christmas Day Service in December 2018
‘We were doing the training behind the scenes, because I just wanted to make them proud,’ she said.
But Carolyn Durant and Omid Scobie seem to disagree.
Writing in their book Finding Freedom, they say: ‘Harry insisted his fiancée have a dedicated team to assist her in learning all the ins-and-outs of royal life.’
Sources told the authors that Meghan underwent training on ‘how to most gracefully exit your chauffeured sedan while wearing a pencil skirt’ and ‘when to curtsy to members of the family several rungs up the hierarchy from you’.
Other sources claimed Meghan underwent the two-day security course with the SAS as Kate did – while some denied the training ever took place.
A source also said Meghan was told to reach out to the Princess of Wales if she ever needed guidance.
Speaking to Us Weekly when Meghan first joined the Royal Family, they said she was told she ‘shouldn’t hesitate to get in touch’ whenever she needed advice.
