How far will Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle go during their shock interview with the American channel CBS? Answer Sunday evening, in front of millions of viewers, at the end of a week marked by small sentences and polemics opposing them to the British royal family.
The series of extracts expertly distilled since last Sunday indicates that the Sussexes, and Meghan Markle in particular, intend to settle some scores with Buckingham Palace, a little over a year after their withdrawal from the royal family.
The former television actress, pregnant with her second child, notably accused the house of Windsor of “peddling lies”, calling it, in passing, “the firm”, evoking the worst ways of corporate culture.
On Tuesday, the British daily The Times published the testimonies of former assistants of Meghan Markle who accuse of harassment the Duchess, now 39, when she was still living with the royal family.
Buckingham Palace, which said it was “very concerned”, immediately announced the opening of an investigation.
Immediate reaction from Meghan Markle, a spokesperson said to see in this sequence “a smear campaign”. “It is no coincidence,” he added, “that distorted and years-old accusations” are “communicated to the British press” ahead of Sunday’s infamous interview.
The couple have often justified their withdrawal and their departure from England by the desire to escape the British press, but they also publicly let their discomfort within the institution filter out.
Yet, in the opinion of many royal experts, neither Meghan nor Harry should go directly to members of the royal family during this two-hour long show, with the prince having a strong emotional bond with his grandmother. , Queen Elizabeth II.
– Millions for an interview –
The crisis is reminiscent of the one that led to the divorce between Charles and Diana, the parents of Harry, now 36, and the event interview of Lady Di on BBC1 in 1995.
“My biggest worry was to see history repeating itself,” Prince Harry said in another clip from the CBS special, referring to the tragic fate of the Princess of Wales, who died in 1997 in a traffic accident while his driver was trying to escape the paparazzi.
Last chapter to date, the British daily newspaper Daily Telegraph published an article on Saturday containing very critical testimonies of Meghan Markle, presented as individualist, calculator and capricious.
After confirming to the Queen their final withdrawal from the royal family, after a period of observation, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, married since May 2018, lost their last official titles in February.
Installed in Canada, then in California, in Montecito, since March, the duo have already resolutely taken the tangent and capitalized on their image of modern couple, mixed, turned towards the humanitarian, in a country where the opinion is much more to them. favorable than in England.
When many British royal commentators criticize the couple, considered inconsistent and egocentric, some American observers see in the treatment of Meghan Markle hints of racism.
Since their arrival in the United States, the couple have created their foundation, Archewell, and have notably committed to producing programs for Netflix, for an amount estimated at $ 100 million by several American media, and podcasts for Spotify.
Added to this is a partnership already announced with the new Apple TV + platform, in collaboration with the American presenter Oprah Winfrey, who landed Sunday’s interview with the princely spouses.
The couple are worth gold and “Oprah” sold, according to the Wall Street Journal, this interview between 7 and 9 million dollars to CBS, while retaining the international rights, source of juicy income because a good part of the planet awaits this televisual event.
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