The Queen reportedly delayed her response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 as she was “adamant” on waiting until it was broadcast in the UK.
The revelation was made in a newly-updated book by Times journalist and author Valentine Low charting life behind palace walls.
According to the book, the Queen wanted to watch the interview at the same time as the public in the UK.
The author, who first broke the 2021 story that royal staff had accused Meghan Markle of bullying, made the claim in a new chapter of his hit 2022 book Courtiers, which is out this week.
In an extract published by the Times, Mr Low said the royal household’s frantic response to Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah.
The bombshell interview aired in the US on Sunday, March 7, 2021.
It was then not due to air in the UK until the following day leaving palace courtiers eager to launch into damage control as soon as possible, reported Newsweek.
Mr Low wrote in the new book release: “A palace team had watched the interview overnight.
“Senior officials had spent the morning locked in conference calls as they debated how to respond. A draft statement was ready by 2pm on Monday. Much to the frustration of the media, however, the palace remained silent.”
He claimed that the reason for this silence was, for once, not palace bureaucracy, but instead the head of the institution herself, the queen.
Mr Low explained: “One insider said, ‘One of the reasons was that the late Queen was adamant that she was going to watch the programme first.’ And she was going to watch it with the rest of the population, on [television network] ITV on Monday evening.”
The late Queen had watched the 85-minute interview the following morning, in which Harry and Meghan spoke about the tensions with William and Kate, Charles and Camilla, the media and royal aides.
Mr Low claimed the drafted statement of response was debated by the senior royals.
While the Queen’s courtiers proposed an open statement, acknowledging Harry and Meghan’s claims with a spirit of reconciliation, according to Low, this received pushback from an unexpected source, Kate, the then-Duchess of Cambridge.
He said: “While they were as concerned as anyone about not getting into a tit-for-tat with Harry and Meghan, William and Kate were clear which side of the debate they were on.
Citing a palace insider, he said: “‘They wanted it toughened up a bit. They were both of one mind that we needed something that said that the institution did not accept a lot of what had been said.
“He [William] said, ‘It is really important that you guys come up with the right way of making sure that we are saying that this does not stand.’ She [Kate] was certainly right behind him on it.'”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took part in a two-hour interview with the US TV host, explaining their reasons for stepping down as working royals.
During their conversation, they levelled allegations of racism against an unidentified senior member of the royal family, claiming there were “concerns and conversations about how dark” the skin tone of their son Archie might be.
At the time, the palace released a statement on behalf of the late Queen, noting some “recollections may vary” regarding the racism accusations.
