Oprah Winfrey is reflecting on her viral 2021 interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following the couple’s decision to step back from royal life and relocate to California.
The veteran media mogul revealed the Sussexes had no prior knowledge of the questions she planned to ask and explained that her now-iconic “silent or silenced” question was simply meant to provide clarification.
The damaging allegations Harry and Meghan made against the royal family during the interview deepened their rift with the monarchy, a position they are still recovering from to date.
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Oprah Winfrey took a retrospective look at her decades-long media career in a chat with Vanity Fair, shedding more light on one of her most explosive television moments: the 2021 sit-down interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
That conversation marked the couple’s first major public appearance after stepping back from royal duties the previous year and relocating to California. During the broadcast, they made a series of headline-making allegations about the monarchy.
Oprah revealed that it took some time for the interview to finally happen, as she was effectively on a self-imposed sabbatical at home during the pandemic.
“By the time we finally sat down, I think they were both ready. They didn’t know, obviously, anything that I was going to ask them, but I had said to them ahead of time, ‘I’m going to try to cover everything,’” she continued.
Oprah Says She Wanted A ‘Win-Win’ For Harry And Meghan
Oprah also revealed the interview lasted roughly three and a half hours before being edited down to about two hours for its CBS broadcast. According to the BBC, it attracted more than 12.4 million viewers in the UK.
Among the interview’s biggest revelations were Meghan’s claim that an unnamed royal had questioned the skin tone of her then-unborn son, Archie.
Elsewhere, the Duchess of Sussex also alleged she was denied help when she experienced suicidal thoughts after struggling to adjust to royal life.
Oprah told Vanity Fair she wanted the interview to be a “win-win” for the Sussexes, which is why she worked to leave no stone unturned. She added that her goal throughout the conversation was to ensure complete transparency.
Oprah Winfrey Explains Her Viral ‘Silent Or Silenced’ Question
One of the interview’s most memorable moments came when Oprah asked Meghan whether she had been “silent, or silenced?” while mimicking the hand gesture the Duchess had just made.
The exchange came after Meghan reflected on being a longtime advocate for women’s rights and independence before making a quick “zip-it” motion across her mouth and saying, “And then… I was silent.”
“The latter,” the Duchess replied, explaining that “everyone in my world was given a very clear directive, from the moment the world knew Harry and I were dating, to say ‘No comment.’”
Looking back on the moment, Oprah said she was simply seeking clarity.
“I wanted to be clear because, ‘Was she silenced? Were people telling her not to talk?’” she explained. “That’s why I said that. I said it for clarification because I didn’t want later to hear, ‘Well, no, it wasn’t that.”
Oprah Winfrey Faces Fresh Criticism Over Harry And Meghan Interview
3Oprah’s latest comments have reignited criticism from royal watchers, many of whom argued she failed to challenge Harry and Meghan on several of their claims during the original interview, particularly Meghan’s assertion that she had been “silenced.”
Some critics argued Oprah was attempting to distance herself from the Sussexes by revisiting the interview years later.
“I was a HUGE Oprah fan all of my life. I even got a box set of the Oprah shows for my birthday, which both Oprah and I share on Jan. 29. I was so disgusted and disappointed with the way that Oprah conducted the Meghan and Harry interview, I stopped watching and following her,” one X user wrote.
Another said, “No, Oprah, you had an agenda, and that was to give her clout because the two of you are on the same team, but it didn’t work, and you’re clarifying it now?”
Prince Harry And Meghan’s Relationship With Royals Remains Strained
3Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royal family has remained strained since the interview, although speculation continues that the couple is trying to repair those fractured ties.
The Duke and Duchess reportedly met with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House during Harry’s trip to the UK earlier this month, but reports suggested the reunion might have been as frosty as their relationship in recent years.
“One gets the sense that, from Meghan’s perspective, the reunion with Charles and Camilla wasn’t entirely warm and fuzzy,” royal author Christopher Andersen told Page Six.
Buckingham Palace sources, however, questioned how Andersen arrived at that conclusion, noting the gathering was a “private family-only” affair.
