The Palace Clapped Back at Prince Harry After the Oprah Interview in 1 ‘Telling’ Way, According to Royal Expert
The royal family lives by the motto of “never complain, never explain,” which means they rarely make public statements in the face of scandals. However, sometimes, royals might respond in subtle ways.
According to a royal expert, the palace did clap back at Prince Harry after he made a bombshell allegation against them in the interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Prince Harry claimed his father cut him off
Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stepped down as senior royals in early 2020. The couple lived in Canada for a few months before settling down in Montecito, California.
In an interview with Oprah, which aired in March 2021, Harry claimed Prince Charles “literally cut me off financially” in the first quarter of 2020. According to Harry, he and Meghan had to live off of the money he inherited from Princess Diana.
Clarence House reportedly clapped back at Prince Harry with a financial report
However, in June 2021, Clarence House released a financial report that showed Harry and Meghan were being funded by the Duchy of Cornwall during the period in which they claimed to be “cut off.” In fact, a spokesperson for Charles said he had set aside a “substantial sum” for the Sussexes.
According to True Royalty TV co-founder Nick Bullen, the report was a rare moment in which the royal family decided to address rumors about them.
“It’s very rare that the royal households complain and explain, but they most certainly explained this time,” Bullen said, according to Fox News. “Harry alleged that after they stepped down, they were immediately cut off financially. But Clarence House turned around and basically said, ‘No, that’s not true. Harry was receiving money until the summer.’ So I think that in itself is pretty telling about how people [in the palace] feel about what’s going on.”
Bullen also alleged that Charles “has been very hurt over the last few months” because of Harry’s claims against his father.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry allegedly wanted an apology
Harry was not the only one who uttered shocking things during the Oprah interview. Meghan also alluded to racism in the royal family and alleged that she did not get help for her mental health issues.
According to royal author Tom Quinn, the Sussexes—more specifically, Meghan—wanted an apology from the royal family.
“I think she was hoping for an apology, I think she was hoping they would phone and say, ‘We are really sorry, we now see that we pushed you too far. We should have behaved differently, we should have sat down as a family and discussed your mental health issues,’” Quinn said, according to Metro.
However, when the royal family did not “respond in the way that she wanted,” Meghan was reportedly “horrified.”
“I think that she thought when she entered the Royal Family she could shake them up and they would love it, she would do things Meghan’s way,” Quinn explained. “When that didn’t happen and she came up against what she saw as the forces of reaction it made her so upset that, that interview was her way I think the only way for her to get her revenge and put the case as she saw it.”
