Though Prince Harry and Prince William are indeed back in touch, it doesn’t seem like they’re any closer to a truce. Confirming reports that the brothers have now spoken since the Oprah interview, Gayle King said on CBS This Morning that the conversations between the brothers were “not productive.”
She added that Meghan and Harry are eager for the “royals to intervene and tell the press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant,” as the fall-out from their Oprah interview enters its second week. Sources close to the Sussexes say they are frustrated by unnamed sources briefing against them in the press, and that Meghan continues to be criticized in the British media. According to King, Meghan has documents to back up everything she said in the interview.
While the couple’s interview has been positively received for the most part in the U.S., there has been a more mixed response in the U.K., where media outlets have been eager to fact-check their claims. Over the weekend sources told the Sunday Times that, contrary to Harry’s claim that Prince Charles had cut them off financially last year, “It was a surprise to hear he’d been cut off, given the bank statements. The prince continued to provide Harry and Meghan with financial support after their move to America while they found their feet.”
Sources also told the Times that they were “dismayed” at the couple’s allegations that they received no help from the institution when Meghan was struggling with her mental health because the couple had the full support of a hand-picked team of aides.
The continued coverage of the interview has led to further tensions between the Sussexes and the royals. One source close to William told Vanity Fair, “There’s a lack of trust on both sides which makes moving forward very hard. William is now worried that anything he says to his brother will be plastered over American TV.”
Buckingham Palace has no plans to comment beyond the statement issued last week by the Queen, but there is concern within the family that the story is becoming a soap opera, even as Prince Philip heads home from the hospital after a monthlong stay. “The family is focused on the Duke of Edinburgh and as far as they are concerned his health is paramount,” a family friend told Vanity Fair. “It seems the Sussexes seem to want to keep fueling this story at a time when the royals are trying to protect Prince Philip from the headlines. It’s a very strange way to go about trying to heal a family rift.”
Vanity Fair understands that Harry has been in touch with the Queen since the interview aired and that they are continuing to speak regularly about Prince Philip’s health.
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