Queen Elizabeth II didn’t care about Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s Oprah Winfrey interview; here’s why

Queen Elizabeth II thought that her grandson Prince Harry was ‘perhaps a little over-in-love’ with his wife, former actor and the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. As per a new biography by British broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, the queen wanted Meghan to ‘feel welcome’ in the royal family. She also said that Meghan could ‘carry on being an actress’ if she liked. However, Queen Elizabeth II was ‘more concerned for Harry’s well-being’ than their ‘television nonsense’ including the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. (Also Read | Meghan Markle, Deepika Padukone discuss getting help for her mental health)

Last year, Prince Harry had appeared alongside Oprah Winfrey in The Me You Can’t See, a documentary series about mental health on Apple TV+. Harry had talked about the racist articles written about Meghan and how his family didn’t help.

As quoted by Daily Mail, an excerpt of the upcoming biography said the queen’s comment on Harry, being ‘a little over-in-love’, ‘was as far as she came – to my knowledge at least – to ever uttering a word against the new Duchess of Sussex’. When Prince Harry announced he was marrying Meghan, the late British monarch was ‘really happy’, according to the book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, that will be published in December.

The queen told Meghan she could continue her career, “You can carry on being an actress if you like – that’s your profession, after all.” However, when Meghan said she would quit acting to dedicate herself to Royal service, the queen was ‘delighted’.

New York Post, quoted an excerpt of the upcoming biography, that read, “She (Queen) liked Meghan and told lots of people so. And she did everything she could to make her future granddaughter-in-law feel welcome.” Gyles also wrote, as per the report, that the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey didn’t deter her, “I can tell you, because I know this, that the Queen was always more concerned for Harry’s well-being than about ‘this television nonsense’, meaning both the Oprah Winfrey interview – which caused so much controversy – and the lucrative deal the Sussexes made with Netflix.” The queen was “worried that Harry should ‘find his feet’ in California and ‘find genuinely useful things to do,'” the author further wrote.

Harry and Meghan tied the knot in 2018. They are parents to son Archie, born in 2019, and daughter Lilibet, born in 2021. In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping back as senior members of the royal family. The couple then moved to the US.