LONDON—Just over a year after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they would step away from Britain’s royal family and move to North America, the couple is embarking on a public relations blitz that will underscore the delicate balance they will need to strike between emphasizing their connections to the monarchy while no longer officially being part of it.
On Sunday, the couple are expected to explain why they quit front-line British royalty in a prime-time interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The lengthy celebrity interview, on television and streaming Sunday at 8.p.m. ET on CBS , marks the culmination of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s effort to take control of how their life is portrayed in the media and bolster what appears, so far, to be a rare example of British royals successfully exiting what is known as “The Firm” to make big money.
But tensions with their former employer are growing. On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said it is probing allegations made in the U.K. newspaper the Times of London that the Duchess of Sussex bullied aides while working there. The Duchess of Sussex denies this.
Meanwhile, a teaser clip of the Oprah interview shows the duchess accusing the palace of “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Prince Harry. “If that comes with risk of losing things, I mean there’s a lot that has been lost already,” she says.