Grab the popcorn, we are about to get a proper insight into how the royal family operates

The Duchess of Sussex has stayed almost entirely silent about her treatment by ‘The Firm’. Until now. Don’t look away, writes Olivia Petter

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is expected to reveal all to Oprah Winfrey on Sunday (Getty)

I have never cared much for the royal family. The weddings came and went, as did the babies and the various parades. It always felt a bit forced to me, so I let it pass me by. Then Meghan came along.

A Hollywood star and celebrity in her own right, here was a woman few expected to marry a British prince. But marry him she did, unaware of the myriad ways in which being a member of the royal family would turn her comfortable A-list life upside down.

In the five years since her first date with Harry, Meghan has endured a character assassination like no other. Whether it’s a tabloid newspaper running a racist headline about her being “almost straight outta Compton” or millions of social media users accusing her of faking her pregnancy, the woman has not been left alone.

And then, of course, there were the endless media appearances from her estranged father, Thomas Markle, who frequently spoke about his daughter to the press in the lead up to and after her wedding in 2018. He famously released a handwritten letter, sent to him by his daughter, to The Mail on Sunday, which resulted in a two-year legal battle against Associated Newspapers. Meghan eventually won the case.

Oh, and then there were the reports of Meghan’s “difficult” behaviour within the palace, reports that have now evolved into claims that one of her former members of staff made a bullying complaint in October 2018, something a spokesperson for the duchess has vehemently denied.

And that’s just what’s been happening out in the open. Can you even imagine how much has happened behind closed doors? We’ll soon find out. On Sunday, the highly anticipated interview between the Sussexes and Oprah Winfrey will air in the US. If the teaser clips are anything to go by, it’s a no holds barred affair, with the couple addressing everything from why they stepped back from their royal roles to how they felt being governed by what Meghan refers to as “The Firm”.

I may not be a royal fan, but I cannot wait to watch this interview – and that’s not just because there’s literally nothing else going on in my locked down life right now. Here’s the thing: while many (and I mean many) people have spoken publicly about the way Meghan has been treated since entering into the royal family, the woman herself has stayed almost entirely silent. Sure, she’s alluded to being trolled online and famously confessed to Tom Bradby in 2019 that she had been having a “hard” time, but Meghan has never spoken extensively about her experience of joining the royal family. Until now.

So, boil the kettle, grab the popcorn, and have Twitter open at the ready (just me?) because this looks set to be a major interview packed with groundbreaking revelations, which might offer an insight into one of the most fascinating, and traditionally iron-clad, institutions in the world.

To not be interested in that would be downright odd.

Yours,

Olivia Petter

Lifestyle reporter