The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to give their first in-depth television interview since stepping back from royal duties.
There has long been speculation that Markle would give an interview to Winfrey ever since the US broadcaster was revealed “at the last-minute” as a guest at the couple’s wedding in 2018, The Times says.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Winfrey and Markle are friends and near neighbours in California, and the TV personality has “long courted the couple”, even befriending the Duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, according to The Telegraph.
Several commentators have condemned the move, with Piers Morgan - a longstanding critic of the couple - describing the pair on Good Morning Britain as “shameless grifters” and calling on the Queen to “take away all their titles”.
The Queen could indeed ask the couple to relinquish their remaining royal patronages, the Daily Mail suggests, with the paper describing the interview as the “final straw” for the Royal Family.
Royal author Robert Jobson said that the interview, which Buckingham Palace was not warned about, is a “betrayal of trust” that shows the couple are “hell bent on causing the Queen more discomfort and possible embarrassment”.
The exclusive sit-down with Winfrey will also “prompt further debate about the thin line between the desire to court publicity and the demand for a private life”, The Telegraph adds.
However, a royal source said it was hoped that the interview would provide the couple with the chance to “get whatever it is they want to say off their chests and move on”.