Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that the pair called the Archbishop of Canterbury and held a private service in their backyard.“Noone knows that,” Meghan revealed in her explosive interview with Oprah. “We just said ‘this thing, the spectacle is for the world but we want our union between us.”The royal couple will reveal the gender of their baby in their sit-down tell all with Oprah Winfrey.A heavily pregnant Meghan had a “socially-distanced” hug with Winfrey when they started talking in the highly anticipated interview.Meghan confirmed there had been no payment and no agreement made over the questions Oprah could ask.The couple will later also take a tour of their new California home with Winfrey.Meghan described her wedding day, and how she felt it was “an out of body experience” that she had little control over.“We were both really aware … that this wasn’t our day, this was the day that was planned for the world,” Meghan said.“I will say I went into it naively because I didn’t grow up knowing about the Royal family.”Meghan said she had gone into the relationship without preparing and researching and that hadn’t even ever looked up Harry online.“I didn’t fully understand what the job was, right, what does it mean to be a working royal,” she said.“I think there was no way to understand what the day to day was going to be like.“I think as Americans especially, what do you know about the Royals? It’s what you read about in fairy tales.“It’s easy to have an image of it that is so far from reality.”Meghan also described her first meeting with Queen Elizabeth and how it was an informal meeting at the home of “Fergie”, Eugenie and Beatrice.“It turned out the Queen was finishing a church service there in Winsdor and she was going to be at the house and I remember Harry and I were in the car and he says… “you’re going to meet her”,” Meghan recalled.“And I said Oh great! He says, do you know how to curtsy? “And I said what? Now I thought genuinely that that was what happens outside, that it was part of the fanfare…“That was really the first moment that the penny dropped.”She said she practised out the front of the house with the help of Harry and Fergie.“I practised really quickly and we went in … and apparently I did a very deep cursty and I don’t remember it and then we just sat there and chatted.”She said their first conversation was “lovely and easy”.‘SHE APOLOGISED’ Meghan said that Kate Middleton had made her cry during the couple’s wedding plan and that she was shocked when a story spread in the media that the “reverse happened”.She said that Kate had later apologized but that the palace had let a false story that Meghan had made Kate cry over an issue with wedding dresses.Oprah pressed her on why Meghan had cried.“I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details of that because she apologised and I have forgiven her.“What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn’t do and that happened to me and the people that were part of the wedding.”She also said that the media focus on her “rift” with Kate had hurt their relationship.“She’s a good person and I think so much of what I have seen play out is this idea of polarity where if you love me you don’t have to hate me. And if you love her you don’t need to hate me.”Meghan said she was held to a different to standard to her sister-in-law.Oprah: “Do you think there was a standard for Kate in general and a separate one for you and if so why?”Meghan: “I don’t know why. I can see now what layers were at play there and again they seemed to want a narrative of a hero and a villain.”QUEEN’S SPEECH Meantime, Queen Elizabeth II delivered her annual Commonwealth Day speech. Seemingly ignoring the drama surrounding her family, the Queen highlighted the challenges of the past year during the pandemic, and the importance of staying in touch.“The testing times experienced by so many have led to a deeper appreciation of the mutual support and spiritual sustenance we enjoy by being connected to others,” she said. The Queen also praised people’s adaptability during uncertain times, saying “connecting and communicating by our innovative technology” has allowed people to “stay in touch with friends, family, colleagues and counterparts” like never before. Traditionally, a Commonwealth Day service would be held at Westminster Abbey and attended by members of the royal family and key guests from across the Commonwealth, however due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Queen recorded a televised message at Windsor Castle instead. Last year’s Commonwealth Day service marked the Duke and Duchess’s final royal engagement before they stepped down as working senior royals. AUSTRALIAN TOUR: ‘A CRITICAL TIME’Prince Harry and Meghan’s 2018 royal tour of Australia will be at the centre of a Buckingham Palace bullying investigation.The Duchess of Sussex is accused of losing her temper with staff during the 16-day royal tour, and at one point, a hot drink was knocked over.It was also claimed that Megjan was upset that she was only given a wing of the Australian Governor General’s Sydney residence, Admiralty House, to stay in, rather than the whole property.The claims are at odds with pictures of General Peter Cosgrove, who was Governor-general at the time, smiling with Prince Harry and Meghan in front of the Sydney Opera House.However, a former staffer of the couple who had helped planned the Duke and Duchess’s wedding, Melissa Touabti quit just one month after the end of the Australian tour, which also included a stop in Melbourne.The Sunday Times reported claims including that Meghan “went mental” at Touabti because she did not order blankets in the correct shade of red for Prince Harry’s friends, who were attending a shooting party. “The Australia tour is one of the most important in the royal world but there have long been allegations of rows with staff,” a source told The Sun.“If these assistants come forward it will form the centre of the Palace’s bullying probe. It was a critical time.”Up to a dozen staffers were expected to take part in the bullying claims probe, which was launched last week.Meghan has denied all allegations of bullying, saying that she herself was a victim. Her lawyers have argued the probe, and the story that sparked it, was part of a “smear campaign” ahead of the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.The Queen is not expected to watch the interview, with sources claiming she wanted to concentrate on more important things, including the health of Prince Philip, who remains in hospital.The couple’s interview will air in the United States on Sunday night, which will be midday Australian time on Monday.CBS has paid Winfrey’s company $11 million for the interview, which has also been sold to 68 countries, including Australia, Canada and Israel.Channel 10 will air the program in Australia on Monday at 7.30pm.Harry and MeghanPRINCE WILLIAM HOPES FOR RECONCILIATIONPrince William is hoping he can reconcile with Prince Harry despite fears that Meghan will address the breakdown of her relationship with Kate in her interview with Oprah.The royal family was concerned that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will detail her falling out with the Duchess of Cambridge, as well as claims of institutional racism.In the biggest airing of royal dirty laundry since Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama interview in 1995, the Queen’s courtiers were expecting awkward questions to be raised.“If she has chosen to speak candidly about her time with Kate then the damage that could be done to the monarchy is vast,” a source told The Sun.“She has the power to lay bare just how bad things really were between her, Harry, William and Kate.”Prince Harry and Meghan’s final official royal duty was at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey last year, where the tension between them and Prince William and Kate was palpable. However, sources claimed that Prince William was seeking a rapprochement.“There will always be bumps in the road but they’re a family and families come through these things,” a friend of Prince William and Kate told Londont’s Telegraph.SUITS CO-STAR DEFENDS MEGHAN Friends of the Duchess have taken to social media to defend the former actor’s reputation amid the bullying claims, with Markle’s Suits co-star and on-screen boyfriend Patrick J. Adams sharing a lengthy address to the bullying claims on social media over the weekend.“Meghan Markle and I spent the better part of a decade working together on Suits. From day one she was an enthusiastic, kind, cooperative, giving, joyful and supporting member of our television family. She remained that person and colleague as fame, prestige and power accrued.“She has always been a powerful woman with a deep sense of morality and a fierce work ethic and has never been afraid to speak up, be heard and defend herself and those she holds dear,” Adams wrote.“Like the rest of the world, I have watched her navigate the last few years in astonishment. She fell in love, moved to a new country, became a household name across the entire globe and began the difficult work of trying to find her place in a family dynamic that can at best be described as complicated and at worst, seemingly archaic and toxic.“It sickened me to read the endless racist, slanderous, clickbaiting vitriol spewed in her direction from all manner of media across the UK and the world but I also knew that Meghan was stronger than people realised or understood and they would regret underestimating her.“And then they welcomed Archie. And on any sort of decent planet that would be a time to stop sharpening the knives and let these two people enjoy the magical early months and years of starting a family. But we don’t live on that planet and instead the hunt continued.“It’s OBSCENE that the royal family, whose newest member is currently GROWING INSIDE OF HER, is promoting and amplifying accusations of ‘bullying’ against a woman who herself was basically forced to (flee) … the UK in order to protect her family and her own mental health,” he wrote.“In my opinion, this newest chapter and its timing is just another stunning example of the shamelessness of an institution that has outlived its relevance, is way overdrawn on credibility and apparently bankrupt of decency.“Find someone else to admonish, berate and torment. My friend Meghan is way out of your league.”Suits writer Jon Cowan shared a similar message of support, describing Meghan as a “good person” who was “thrust into an unimaginable world”. Meghan’s friend of almost two decades, actor Janina Gavankar said, “I have known Meghan for 17 years. Here’s what she is: kind, strong, open. Here’s what she’s not: a bully. Any of us who know her feel the same thing from her broken silence: relief. The truth shall set you free.”British actor Jameela Jamil challenged the timing of the allegations airing, saying, “So lemme just get this straight. The Palace were fine with all of Meghan’s ‘bullying’ for years and years until a few days before they fear she may out them publicly. Seems like a legit claim.”Lindsay Roth, Meghan’s best friend from college, has also come out swinging, saying, “Meg’s M.O. has always been kindness; goodwill runs in her bones. I know this to be true after 22 years of very close friendship. I have seen first-hand how she treats her friends and their families, and her colleagues. If you ever have the pleasure of meeting Meg – and I hope more of you do – you will see the altruistic, magnanimous friend who I am so lucky to have in my corner.”A video on Twitter, posted by a woman connected to the couple’s charity Archewell and titled “the most attentive husband” that shows Prince Harry brushing back Meghan’s hair, has been viewed 36.3 million times. [email protected]



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