Prince Harry may be in for a very different interview in his sit down with Anderson Cooper which premieres Sunday, according to a royal expert. Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk that TV megastar Oprah Winfrey failed to “forensically examine” the answers given by the Prince and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle when she interviewed the couple in 2021.
“Frankly, we are looking at a very very substantive and, perhaps, comprehensive interview,” Mr Fitzwilliams said of the pre-recorded Anderson Cooper sit down.
He added: “The question I’m interested in is whether or not what Harry says will be examined forensically.
“It wasn’t on Oprah, but with Anderson Cooper you may very well get a different type of questioning and it will be very interesting to see what the answers are.”
The Sussexes sat down with Oprah in 2021 after splitting with the Firm and levelled a series of allegations at the Royal Family – including allegations of racism.
“The charges made in the Oprah interview were very serious, one dealt with the racism, one dealt with Meghan’s mental health and the fact she couldn’t get help – whether her passport was confiscated. There’s a whole series of things,” Mr Fitzwilliams added.
However, he claimed that “nothing they have said so far has been in any way questioned”.
It could be that Cooper, an award winning journalist, may press Prince Harry for more details on any allegations he makes in the interview.
For example, in a trailer for the 60 minutes interview, Harry claims that the Palace “planted” stories about Meghan and actively briefed against the Sussexes.
“What is the proof that the palace was briefing against him?” Mr Fitzwilliams asked.
The 60 minutes interview with Anderson Cooper is only one of two upcoming sit downs with the Duke of Sussex ahead of the release of his memoir, Spare, on January 10.
Prince Harry sat down with ITV’s Tom Bradby to film an interview which will air on the network.
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In a trailer for that interview, the Prince told Bradbury he “would like to get my father back; I would like to have my brother back”.
Mr Fitzwilliams offered a simple piece of advice for the Duke in order to help repair relations with his family across the pond.
“In that case, what about silence? There was no need for a memoir. If you criticise somebody and you do it publicly, damaging the institution, what does he expect?” Mr Fitzwilliams said.
The ITV interview will air on the channel at 9pm on Sunday while the 60 minutes interview will air at midnight GMT on CBS. Although CBS is not available in the UK, it is expected that clips of the sit down will be uploaded to the network’s YouTube channel.
Prince Harry’s memoir Spare will hit bookshelves next week, the publisher has promised it has been written with “raw, unflinching honesty”.
