Queen ‘will not watch Harry and Meghan Oprah interview’

Monarch will ‘ignore’ the ‘circus’ and instead focus on duty and Prince Philip, report suggests

The Queen will “ignore” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah Winfrey interview, with royal courtiers branding the interview “a circus”, according to The Sunday Times.

On Sunday, the much-anticipated interview with Harry and Meghan, where the couple will delve into the tough royal split, will air in the US before being screened in the UK on Monday.

The Queen instead will be focussing on “duty and Philip” according to the Sunday Express. Prince Philip, 99, is in hospital after undergoing an operation for a pre-existing heart condition and the Sussexes have faced calls for the broadcast on Sunday to be postponed.

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Clips from the Winfrey interview have shown Meghan referring to the royal family as “The Firm” and accusing them of “perpetuating falsehoods”.

She also refers to the constraints of working under the royal family and how she feels “liberated” after stepping down.

Tensions between the royal family have been rising since Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties, and palace advisers are said to be “prepared to retaliate with fresh disclosures about the couple’s behaviour if the monarchy is attacked”, according to The Sunday Times.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the reports.

Several members of the royal family will be appearing in their own television special, just hours before Harry and Meghan, on a BBC One programme on Sunday evening.

The Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex will appear in the pre-recorded show called A Celebration For Commonwealth Day, which is marked on Monday.

The rift between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the royal family has split opinion with people in the UK and around the world taking the sides of either Meghan and Harry or the royal family.

In the last week accusations of bullying have been made against Meghan and she has been blamed for two personal assistants quitting, while The Sun reports that some staff felt “humiliated”.

An inquiry has been launched by Buckingham Palace into the Duchess, whose spokesman said it was the “latest attack on her character”.

In the last week her co-star in TV show Suits, Patrick J Adams, came to the Duchess’s defence on Twitter, saying: “Meghan Markle and I spent the better part of a decade working together on Suits. From day one she was an enthusiastic, kind, cooperative, giving, joyful and supportive member of our television family.”

Many have been quick to point out that following accusations of Prince Andrew’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who took his own life in prison on charges of sex trafficking, no inquiry was held into the prince’s role.