Oprah Winfrey has reflected on her bombshell 2021 interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in a new interview with Vanity Fair, just weeks after the Sussexes reunited with King Charles for a private meeting.
Oprah Clarifies ‘Silenced’ Question
The 72-year-old former daytime host addressed some of her biggest career moments, including the 2004 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show where she gave away 276 cars worth over $7 million, as well as the sit-down with Meghan and Harry.
In the 2021 interview, Meghan opened up about her time in the Royal Family, prompting Oprah to ask whether she was “silent or silenced.” The duchess responded “the latter.” Oprah now says she asked for clarification. “I wanted to be clear, because was she silenced? Were people telling her not to talk? That’s why I said,” Oprah explained. “I said it for clarification because I didn’t want later to hear, ‘well no, it wasn’t that, it was really that I was silenced. They wouldn’t let me talk. So it was all for clarification.”
Interview Postponed Multiple Times
Oprah also confirmed the tell-all interview was postponed three times and lasted over three and a half hours. She cheekily imitated her zipped-lip gesture from the clip, joking, “I don’t know where the hell that came from.”
Social Media Reaction
Social media users reacted to the resurfaced interview. One wrote: “Why bring this up again? I mean… really interesting timing!” Another said: “This interview didn’t age well.” A third reiterated the late Queen Elizabeth II’s famous quote, “Recollections may vary,” in response to allegations of racism and mistreatment made by the Sussexes.
Harry explained during the interview why he went public: “I need to do this for my family. This isn't a surprise to anybody. It's really sad that it's got to this point. But I've got to do something for my own mental health, for my wife's and for Archie's as well because I could see where this was heading.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left the UK in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California.
