- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Oprah Winfrey’s explosive interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry aired across the Atlantic on Monday, effectively on home soil given its subject matter.
A day after Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special was broadcast in the U.S., the two-hour special with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — which laid bare the inner workings of the royal family and the couple’s reason for stepping away — landed on Brit network ITV, which had won a bidding war for the interview.
The U.K. broadcast came after the bombshell revelations had already dominated the British press, where they received nearly blanket coverage for much of the day, including a significant amount of hostility from certain elements of the media. Among the most outspoken was Piers Morgan, who used his Good Morning Britain breakfast news show — also on ITV — to attack both the royals.
Related Stories
A long-time and very public critic of Markle, Piers said that Prince Harry had “been spray-gunning his entire family on global TV” and that “Prince Charles has been bankrolling that couple for the last five years” in a show that was effectively dedicated to the interview. Morgan was heavily criticised on social media, but among his most controversial statements was that he didn’t believe Markle when she revealed she had felt suicidal, provoking an outpouring of criticism.
“I don’t believe a word she says,” he said. “I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report.”
Among those to react was the British mental health charity Mind, which just happens to be a supporter of ITV’s mental health campaign, Get Britain Talking. Just prior to the interview airing on the network in the U.K., it put out a statement.
“We were disappointed and concerned to see Piers Morgan’s comments on not believing Meghan’s experience about suicidal thoughts today,” it said. “It’s vital that when people reach out for support they or share their experiences of ill mental health that they are treated with dignity, respect and empathy.”
Mind added that it was “in conversations with ITV about this at the moment.”
— Mind (@MindCharity) March 8, 2021
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day