Royals live news: Meghan's shocking claim refuted, Prince Charles target of Harry's resentment

Meghan made a truly shocking claim about the basic freedoms she says the royal family stripped from her. Now insiders are hitting back. 

Welcome to this week's coverage of the fallout from Harry and Meghan's interview.

 

 

With Buckingham Palace apparently determined to handle the couple's allegations of racism within the royal family "privately", more public recriminations are happening in British media following TV host Piers Morgan's decision to quit his job on Good Morning Britain.

And while our royal live blog is now closed, the Palace bombshells continue, with Prince William today taking the "unprecedented" step of publicly responding to the racism allegations Harry and Meghan have levelled at the family. William's unusual action, responding to a question shouted in passing during a public appearance, shows the "true scale" of the royal war, according to experts. 

All the royal updates through the week can still be read below in our royal blog, which was closed on Thursday afternoon March 11. 

Updates

1:40 pm March 11, 2021 Highlight

Prince Charles has no intention to watch interview

Prince Charles didn't watch Meghan and Harry's interview with Oprah and has no intention to, sources close to the future king have told Vanity Fair.

A source said that while they believe "Camilla watched some of it…Charles couldn't bring himself to".

While aware of the accusations his youngest son and daughter-in-law made against the royal family, Charles is privately said to be "at a loss" over their decision to sit down for the tell-all, the publication reports.

Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

"He will not be drawn into it, but it's fair to say he is surprised and very disappointed by what has been said," a longtime friend of the prince said.

"He didn't watch the interview, but of course he's heard what has been said. He feels let down by them both. There is not a racist bone in his body and to suggest otherwise is very hurtful."

According to another source, Charles "hates confrontation" and remains key to smooth things over with the Sussexes.

"I think he appreciates things are said and done – there are hurt feelings – but he loves his son and his family more than anything," they said.

1:14 pm March 11, 2021

The Queen watches the interview... sort of

A little light relief as we wade through another day of royal drama…

ABC's The Weekly with Charlie Pickering last night used some clever editing to imagine the Queen and Prince Charles sitting down to watch the Oprah special, Gogglebox-style.

Enjoy:

The Queen said she wasn’t going to watch the #meghanharryoprah #MeghanandHarryonOprah interview- but she did! @theweeklytv has this bombshell EXCLUSIVE. pic.twitter.com/rKsKOF0FuI

— Charlie Pickering (@charliepick) March 10, 2021

12:37 pm March 11, 2021 Highlight

Our PM weighs in on royal saga

Speaking on Sunrise this morning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed that he had watched Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview along with the rest of Australia.

"You've gotta feel for people in the situations, they're having some family troubles," he said of the couple in a separate interview on Nova 96.9 today.

"People have family troubles – it happens, we all have them from time to time."

Morrison met with the Sussexes during their 2018 royal tour of Australia – a trip they told Oprah marked a turning point in their relations with the rest of the royal family, who Harry suggested seemed jealous of Meghan's sudden popularity.

Morrison said he hadn't seen any signs of strain or tension during their visit.

"No, I just found them both doing the best I possibly could to be supportive of Australia and I saw them both working together as a team as you'd expect royals to be in those situations," he said.

"I remember when Jenny and I met the Queen a little later we commented how wonderful they'd been on the trip to Australia and how much we appreciated it – and that we looked forward to taking Wills out at some point.'"

10:21 am March 11, 2021

How much did Diana leave Harry?

Another brief moment from Monday's interview that's lingered for many: Harry explaining that his family had cut him off financially, and he never would've been able to make his own way without the money his mother, Princess Diana, had left him.

So how much was it? The Sun reports that Harry was left about $11 million when his mother died 23 years ago.

This increased to around $18 million on his 30th birthday after the original amount was invested and gathered interest.

The money came from Diana’s divorce from Prince Charles, as well as shares, jewellery, cash and other personal items.

9:46 am March 11, 2021 Highlight

Shocking Meghan claim explained

One allegation in Meghan's Oprah interview left viewers around the world stunned.

"When I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver's license, my keys. All that gets turned over," she claimed.

The day after the interview, Kate Middleton was photographed driving into Kensington Palace, in what some interpreted as a subtle attempt to dispute Meghan's claims. Certainly, other senior figures in the royal family are regularly spotted driving.

Now historian and author Robert Lacey, who acts as a consultant for The Crown, has told the BBC Meghan would've had to surrender her drivers license for her own safety, to ensure she always had security protection with her: "If she went out driving on her own, she would not be protected."

Monarchist League of Canada chair Robert Finch told the BBC that “one assumes that royals’ valuable personal documents are kept in a safe or safes — under the eye of the overall palace security.”

"Sounds as if it fitted Meghan's narrative of being trapped and isolated, but really was routine, and probably anything would be accessible to her if she wanted it," he said. Bear in mind, Finch is a staunch Monarchist, so was unlikely to agree with Meghan's allegations about the royals.

Royal author Marlene Koenig said Meghan's passport "would certainly have been requested when travelling on official tours," but that the royals are given VIP treatment when they travel and don't go through normal passport controls.

The Sun has today revealed Meghan flew off on 13 holidays after starting dating Harry, including trips to New York, Ibiza, Botswana, Italy and Amsterdam.

“Of course the Royal Family would want to keep Meghan’s passport safe," royal author Margaret Holder told the outlet.
“But it’s unthinkable she didn’t carry it for personal and private trips such as her New York baby shower, travelling to see friends in Canada, partying in Amsterdam and going to Lake Como with George Clooney.”

8:26 am March 11, 2021 Highlight

Meghan's friend says there's proof royals knew

Actress Janina Gavankar backed up several of Harry and Meghan’s accusations during her fiery UK morning TV interview.

Despite the Queen's statement insisting she was surprised to learn about many of the couple's allegations along with the rest of the world, Gavankar said the royals knew how tough Meghan and Harry were finding things before they left.

“I know the family and the staff were well aware of the extent of it. Though their recollections may vary, ours don’t because we lived through it with them,” she told the program.

“There are many emails and texts to support that. I don’t know who knew, I know that the family and the staff knew.”

8:02 am March 11, 2021

ITV's huge hit after Piers' departure

ITV has seen almost £200m wiped off its market value after Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan's dramatic departure from the network, the Guardian reports.

That's $360m in Aussie dollars. The day after Morgan's sudden departure from ITV was announced, the network's share price slumped by 3.8%, almost 5p.

“Love or loathe, Morgan boosted ratings. It could also be that investors are worried about an investigation over comments made by Morgan on air," Neil Wilson, chief markets analyst at Markets.com, told the Guaridan.

The news comes as Morgan spoke to reporters yesterday after his controversial exit from Good Morning Britain, saying he was willing to “fall on his sword” after “agreeing to disagree” with ITV over apologising for his on-air rant about Meghan.

7:36 am March 11, 2021 Highlight

Charles 'true target' of resentment

News.com.au's Sam Clench notes that Harry and Meghan seemed keen to avoid criticising specific family members during their tell-all – with one striking exception.

In a detailed new examination of Monday's two-hour interview, Clench observes that both Harry and Meghan have carefully cast Charles as the antagonist in their story.

"Multiple key decisions the Sussexes resent can be traced back to Charles. And if they’re angry with other members of the family, they never expressed it during the interview. He was the only one to cop any level of hostility," he writes.

7:03 am March 11, 2021 Highlight

Sharon Osbourne's 'career-ruining' TV meltdown

Sharon Osbourne has been one of the few celebs to speak out in defence of Piers Morgan after he left ITV, tweeting "I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth."

In scenes just aired during chat show The Talk in the US, Osbourne is seen snapping at Black co-host Sheryl Underwood as the pair discuss whether Morgan's Meghan outbursts were racist.

Osbourne's behaviour saw her dubbed "Karen Osbourne" in this clip going viral this morning:

karen osbourne begging to be canceled live on the talk right now pic.twitter.com/YU217LK5rL

— Déjà The View (@dejatheviewpod) March 10, 2021

"I will ask you again, Sheryl – and don't try and cry, because if anyone should be crying, it should be me," Osbourne warned her co-host.

"You tell me, educate me, where you have heard (Piers) say racist things. Educate me! Tell me!" she screamed, as her co-host calmly offered an explanation in response.

It's car crash TV.

"I'm gonna be a little late, watching Sharon Osbourne lose her job live on TV." one viewer tweeted.

"Sharon Osbourne doubling-down on supporting Piers Morgan for his racist and egotistical harassment of Meghan Markle, today on her talk show. She's a grown woman. She doesn't need her black co-hosts to explain to her why what Piers did was wrong," said another.

"Go and educate yourself Sharon Osbourne and stop demanding that Black women educate you for free. What disgusting behaviour," wrote another.

Sharon Osbourne is on TV ruining her career right now…what are you thinking?

You have Black women SPOONFEEDING you answers, generously giving their own experiences, and your main concern is bickering over them

She said "I feel like I'm about to be put in the electric chair"

— 🌱 kite 💀 🕊 (@hellgyre) March 10, 2021

6:16 am March 11, 2021 Highlight

Meghan's friend in tense TV clash

Meghan Markle's close friend, actress Janina Gavankar, appeared on UK's This Morning overnight – but was slammed by host Phillip Schofield for being "unbelievably guarded and saying nothing".

Javina explained she was very close to Harry and Meghan and had their support for her TV appearance: "Oh yes absolutely. I talk to them all of the time. We watched the special together actually."

When Javina said she didn't speak for Harry and Meghan, only for herself, Schofield grew frustrated.

"I'm not entirely sure what it is that you're saying… If you were going to come on the telly to be unbelievably guarded and practically say nothing – what is your role today?"

Javina hit back, saying she was "surprised" by his questions: "I am not a purported Royal expert, I'm just a person who can gladly say the truth can finally come out."

"I do wonder… Your producers asked me to be here, but they know I don't speak for them. I can only speak for myself," she continued.

Later in the interview, Javina denied the host's assertion that Meghan and Harry had publicly "nuked" his family.

"I don't think their intention was to nuke them, it was the chance to finally tell their truth," she said.