EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry was hoping that his March sit-down with Oprah Winfrey would spark a reconciliation with his family – but one royal expert doesn’t think it’s possible.
“It seems naïve and delusional of Prince Harry to have thought that his Oprah interview would have led to reconciliation,” Anna Pasternak told Fox News. “Attacking his own family and criticizing the monarchy was hardly going to facilitate rapprochement. Harry is quick to praise others who ‘own’ their mistakes yet he and Meghan took absolutely no responsibility for their part in the breakdown in familial relationships.”
Most recently, the author has written about the other American divorcee who married a royal for a book titled “The Real Wallis Simpson.” The British writer tracked down Simpson’s last remaining circle of intimate friends who wanted to set the record straight about her controversial life.
While many have praised the Duke of Sussex for shedding light on royal life, Pasternak said it seems unlikely that his family would want to address their differences after the tell-all. Those conversations, she said, should have been kept in private for the families to address.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down with Oprah Winfrey in March for a tell-all interview.
(Photo Credit: Harpo Productions/ Photographer: Joe Pugliese.)
“For any meaningful reconciliation, which seems incredibly unlikely when they are using Oprah and a streaming service platform to air their grievances, they would have to be able to see beyond their victim status to consider the royal family’s point of view,” said Pasternak. “As the queen put it so beautifully, ‘recollections vary’ as to the Sussex’s so-called struggles.”
During the two-hour special, Harry told the media mogul he felt trapped by royal life and was surprised that he was cut off financially and lost his security last year. The 36-year-old also said he felt his family did not support his wife Meghan Markle, who acknowledged her naiveté about royal life before marrying Harry, as she endured tabloid attacks and false stories.
Markle, who is biracial, described that when she was first pregnant with the couple’s son Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” While Harry refused to expose the identity of the person who made the comment, he later told Winfrey it was not his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip.
At one point, the former American actress described how her mental health was impacted as she attempted to navigate royal life. The 39-year-old admitted she experienced suicidal thoughts and had sought help through the palace’s human resources department, but was told there was nothing they could do.
PRINCE HARRY RIPS PRINCE CHARLES’ PARENTING, SUGGESTS ROYAL IS THE REASON HE ‘SUFFERED’
Prince Harry admitted to Oprah Winfrey that his relationships with Prince Charles and Prince William are strained.
(Photo by Phil Harris – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Harry also revealed that his relationships with his father Prince Charles, as well as older brother Prince William, were strained.
“There is a lot to work through there,” said Harry about his relationship with the patriarch. “I feel really let down. He’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like. And Archie is his grandson. I will always love him, but there is a lot of hurt that has happened.”
The interview was viewed by nearly 50 million people globally.
In his mental health docuseries on AppleTV+ titled “The Me You Can’t See,” Harry told Winfrey that speaking out was “about being real and authentic.”
“I like to think that we were able to speak truth in the most compassionate way possible, therefore leaving an opening for reconciliation and healing,” he said, as quoted by The Telegraph on Friday.
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Harry, who now lives in California with his growing family, said he has “no regrets at all” about exiting the U.K.
“Therapy has equipped me to be able to take on anything he said,” he said. “That’s why I’m here now, that’s why my wife is here now. Without therapy and without doing the work, we would not be able to withstand this. I’ve never had any anger through this, I’ve always had compassion.”
The couple’s departure from royal duties began in March 2020 over what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media towards the duchess. The couple now resides in the coastal city of Montecito, Calif., and they are expecting a baby girl due sometime this summer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.