Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Oprah interview may have to be edited or re-recorded

The Queen is to battle the airwaves with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle by addressing the nation on TV along with Prince Charles and Prince William just hours before the Sussexes’ incendiary interview with their friend Oprah Winfrey is broadcast in the US, it was revealed today.

Her Majesty was due to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 8 – but this has been cancelled for the first time in nearly half a century due to Covid-19. 

Instead the Queen has chosen to share her annual message in A Celebration For Commonwealth Day 24 hours earlier, on Sunday March 7, broadcast on BBC One.

This will be shown to millions a few hours before Harry and Meghan’s intimate interview with Oprah Winfrey is being screened in a 90-minute special on CBS at 8pm in the US on Sunday – 1am UK time on Monday. 

And in a show of unity Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, will also take part in the pre-recorded programme hosted by Anita Rani, sharing their royal perspectives on the importance of Britain’s Commonwealth links.  

It is not yet known how UK viewers will see the Oprah interview, with TV companies already locked in an international bidding war for the rights to the programme. ITV are understood to be in the driving seat in Britain with a UK deal expected in the coming days, although ViacomCBS are yet to comment.

Today it also emerged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s incendiary interview with their friend Oprah Winfrey may have to be re-edited or even partially re-shot due to the rift it has caused with the royal family and 99-year-old Prince Philip’s hospitalisation.

Harry and Meghan are said to be in shock because the Queen stripped them of their royal and sporting patronages after they ‘poured their hearts out’ to Ms Winfrey during a two-day shoot in their £11million LA mansion last week.

The tell-all interview is due to air on Sunday March 7 with no topics off-limits with one source warning Harry’s family the show would be a good ‘time to hide behind the sofa at the palace’. 

But there are claims in the US that CBS would like to re-shoot some of the interview – and a new edit of the existing footage – because of the row it has caused with the Queen and his brother Prince William back in Britain. His grandfather Prince Philip’s admission to hospital in London also happened after some or all of the interview was completed.  

A source told the Mirror: ‘When the Duke and Duchess spoke, it was never envisaged they would have their patronages taken away. They didn’t see it coming and spoke as though they still had roles to play.

‘Now, however, other than their titles, they are to have no role in royal life – a point producers know was not discussed when Winfrey spoke to them. Neither the Sussexes nor the TV crew saw the fallout of their interview leading to this. Harry and Meghan thought they would retain their roles. But things have significantly changed for them since they eagerly sat for Winfrey and poured their hearts out.’ 

The continuing turmoil caused by the Oprah interview came as: 

• Prince Philip spent another night in hospital amid claim Prince Charles’ visit to his father’s bedside may have included ‘reassurance’ about Prince Harry’s Oprah interview;
• The rift between the Sussexes and the royal family has thrown plans for the Queen’s 2022 Platinum Jubilee celebrations into turmoil, it has been claimed;
• Royal biographer Ingrid Seward said she believes Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, already know the gender of their baby and they will avoid using a royal-sounding name; 

Prince William has been left ‘really sad and genuinely shocked’ by his brother’s behaviour towards the Queen after Harry and Meghan were cast out as working royals. 

The Duke of Cambridge is said to be ‘very upset by what has happened’ and feels Harry has been ‘insulting and disrespectful’ to their grandmother. But he also refuses to call it a day with his brother, and hopes that focussing on ‘purely family matters’ with the Duke of Sussex, could help repair their rift. 

An insider told The Daily Telegraph: ‘There is hope that they can all move forward now these loose ends have been tied up once and for all.

‘The [one year] review had been hanging over both sides for some time but now it has finally been resolved, it allows all parties to work on purely family matters.’ 

Harry’s grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, is still in a central London hospital today amid claims Prince Charles may have used his visit to ‘reassure him’ about the growing row with Prince Harry and his wife.

Royal author Penny Junor said: ‘Momentous things are happening in the family at the moment and I suppose it’s perfectly possible that Charles wanted to go and talk to his father and reassure him about Harry’. The hospital’s website states visitors will ‘only be considered in exceptional circumstances’.

The relationship between the two brothers was strained before Friday’s announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been stripped of their remaining roles after their 12-month trial separation from royal life and move to the US. 

The couple then issued a sharp rebuke, declaring they would offer ‘continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role’.

They signed off: ‘We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.’

Sources close to the monarch told The Sunday Times that the riposte was ‘petulant and insulting to the Queen’. A source told the Mail: ‘Their statement in response to the Queen’s heartfelt sentiment that the couple are still muchloved members of her family was considered highly disrespectful.’

The source added: ‘At the end of the day this was all their [Harry and Meghan’s] decision.

‘They asked to explore an ‘alternate way’ but the only alternative is that you are either a public servant or you aren’t. She made her view clear from the start and hasn’t ever deviated from that.

‘People [in the household] would have liked a different outcome. Harry and Meghan clearly could have made a very positive contribution to public life in the UK. But from the start they made clear they were only ever interested in pursuing this quasi-royal role.

‘It seems Harry genuinely thought he could persuade Her Majesty of the merits of that. But she has always been clear on this point – you cannot pursue commercial interests while undertaking public duties. It is untenable.’

Another source suggested that there has been widespread exasperation at the ‘inflammatory’ statement and determination to ‘always have the last word’.

They said the Queen had no choice but to act as the situation ‘wasn’t fair’ on the charities and organisations that rely on royal patronage.

Sources said William, 38, felt under pressure over the potential increased workload following his brother’s decision to step back from royal life. One told the Sunday Times: ‘His future looks different because of his brother’s choices – it’s not easy.’

They added: ‘They had shared everything about their lives – an office, a foundation, meetings together most days – and there was a lot of fun along the way. He’ll miss it for ever.’

Sources stressed to the Mail that relations between the brothers ‘were not good’, adding: ‘He’s genuinely sad his brother won’t be standing shoulder to shoulder with him.’ However, William, the Queen and the Sussexes are all said to be eager to ease tensions.

One obstacle to improved relations may prove to be the ‘tell-all’ TV interview Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, have agreed to do with Oprah Winfrey.

It is thought they pre-recorded it at their home in California at the start of last week. On Friday Miss Winfrey – a friend and neighbour of the couple who attended their wedding in 2018 – was seen boarding her private jet near their £11million home in Montecito.

It remains to be seen whether the couple will carry out any additional interviews with Miss Winfrey in light of Friday’s announcement.

The Queen was reportedly ‘blindsided’ by the interview, which will be shown on March 7.

Oprah Winfrey spent two days interviewing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Wednesday and Thursday before their parting shot at Buckingham Palace – and ‘gained a unique insight into the rift’, it was claimed last night.

The prime-time discussion, which controversially ‘blindsided’ the Queen after her grandson chose not to inform her of the sit-down ‘tell all’, will make ‘pure gold’ when it airs next month, aides told the Sun.

The chat show host prepared for the interview at her home in Hawaii before flying into California, where she also owns a second property in Montecito a short drive from the couple, on her £50million private jet.

Oprah, who attended the Sussexes’ wedding and has been a firm supporter of their decision to leave Britain, was with the couple just hours before they released their statement, having filmed the discussion on Wednesday and Thursday.

The presenter only left Santa Barbara, where she travelled to with an entourage of assistants and her rescue cocker spaniel Sadie, later on Friday, as the fallout from Megxit went into overdrive.

Sources told the Sun how the friends looked relaxed, and not as if they were caught in the middle of a major royal drama.

In stark contrast to the glamorous meeting, Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, remains in hospital, and was visited by a teary-eyed Prince Charles.

The interview with Oprah is due to be aired on Sunday March 7, and a person close to the Sussexes told the Sunday Times last night that Meghan believes the prime-time broadcast gives her the ‘loudest way she’ll get her voice back’. 

Another source told the Sun: ‘The pair are clearly very close to Oprah and the fact she’s been with them at such an intense time has given her a unique insight into the rift with the royals.

‘The drama of last week means that Oprah’s tell-all show will be pure gold. It’s time to hide behind the sofa for the other royals.’  

The Royals are braced for the couple to hit back at the Palace in the interview that was filmed just before The Queen removed Harry and Meghan’s royal patronages because a ‘life of public service’ is not compatible with the couple’s lucrative new career in America.

That sparked a barbed response from the Sussexes stating ‘service is universal’, which Royal sources called ‘horribly disrespectful’ and ”you can’t line your pockets while undertaking official duties’.

Speaking about the Oprah interview which was filmed in California, the source close the couple told the Times: ‘Having an institutional voice within the royal family wasn’t enough [for Meghan]. This interview will be the loudest way she’ll get her voice back.’

‘When they first started dating Meghan felt she had lost her voice. She had had a platform as a moderately successful actress, and when she was told to stop using her social media and be careful what she said, I could tell that loss of voice and independence pained her.’

The Royals will be braced for the couple to air their grievances as Prince Philip, 99, is treated in hospital.

An emotional Prince of Wales arrived at King Edward VII’s hospital in London to visit his father this afternoon, who has been treated by doctors since Tuesday. He is expected to remain in hospital until next week.

It comes after it was revealed that a ‘battle royale’ over their royal titles raged behind the scenes, with the Queen telling the couple their commercial careers were completely incompatible with the impartiality required of those in public service.

According to one official, she made it ‘abundantly clear’ to her grandson that when it comes to being a working royal you are either in, or you are out, telling him: ‘You work for the monarchy, the monarchy doesn’t work for you.’

With negotiations already tense, the revelation of the Oprah interview sent matters into free fall and was deemed to be the final straw.

Officials were angered that Harry and Meghan had kept this secret from the Palace, hoping to announce their interview bombshell once the ‘divorce deal’ was done.

The interview promises to deliver the most explosive revelations about the royals since Princess Diana lifted the lid in 1995, with the pair set to reveal exactly why they decided to turn their backs on the family and the UK more widely.

TV companies are already locked in an international bidding war for the rights to the programme, which will see Meghan talk about marriage and motherhood, having recently announced her second pregnancy, as well as her handling of life under the most intense of spotlights.

She is highlighted as the star of the show, with CBS, the American network broadcasting the special in the States, billing Harry as something of a support act.

It will be ‘time to hide behind the sofa at the palace,’ a royal source said.

Last year, The Duke of York was forced to step back from public life following his car-crash Newsnight interview in 2019 about his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, while Diana, Harry’s mother, told friends she ‘deeply regretted’ her appearance on Panorama, in which she admitted adultery and spoke frankly of her relationship with Charles.

‘Oprah is skilled at getting people to talk about their feelings and bound to take them down a path they’ll almost certainly regret,’ the source added.

‘There will be an element of reliving Megxit and airing their grievances. No one benefits from that, but Oprah will get it out of them whether they like it or not.’ 

A YouGov poll found nearly half of Britons think the interview is inappropriate. A further 29 per cent were in favour, while 25 per cent said they didn’t know.

It comes after Buckingham Palace announced in a dramatic statement yesterday that they had been stripped of their remaining roles following their move to California .

Pointedly, it said they could not continue with ‘the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’. 

As relations hit a bitter new low, an insider said: ‘They have made a roaring success of what they set out to do in the US, this independent life. And good luck to them. But you can’t have your cake and eat it.

‘If your primary role is to serve the head of state and the monarchy, then it’s very hard to do that if you are earning millions on the side. That’s philanthropy, not public service. The couple are working with some deserving charities and causes, which is great.

‘It’s just that the model of how they are doing it is different from how the Royal Family do it.’

The source stressed that the split from the Royal Family had been Harry and Meghan’s decision entirely. ‘They have chosen to live in America, they have not been exiled to America,’ they said.

Another insider said: ‘Let’s be clear, the Sussexes instigated this. They jumped. But the Queen is firm: either you are a public servant or you aren’t.

‘You can’t line your pockets while undertaking official duties.’

Although Palace officials were at pains to stress how ‘saddened’ the monarch and senior royals were by the split – insisting that Harry and Meghan were still ‘much loved’ members of the family – the rift between the two sides is now wider than ever.

Relations are so acrimonious that despite weeks of discussions, they couldn’t even agree a joint statement on the issue. ‘It’s actually all very sad,’ a source said.

Another insider said: ‘The direction of travel has been clear for a while. The Queen has been very clear from the start that this ‘half in, half out’ model demanded by the Sussexes wouldn’t work and hasn’t deviated from that. Not once. Their original idea was to have a ‘third way’ of being a royal. And the Queen has said quite simply ‘no, you can’t’.’

The Mail has been told that it was Harry who pushed to restart talks over his and Meghan’s position early this year.

According to insiders, there was a ‘puzzling sense of urgency’ to his requests that perplexed palace officials. When news of Meghan’s deal for a ‘tell all’ interview with Oprah Winfrey broke earlier this week ‘all became clear’.

This was seen as ‘shocking’ by the royal household, which had hoped to make an amicable joint announcement about the couple’s future earlier this week.

The Daily Mail revealed exclusively earlier this week that the couple were set to lose their remaining royal patronages.

They will now be forced to relinquish a series of high profile roles connected to causes close to their hearts and, most devastatingly for Harry, his three honorary military positions. The pair have also had to relinquish their roles with the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, although they are set to retain their official titles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, first announced their desire to quit as working royals in January last year without even informing the Queen beforehand, a move which deeply hurt the 94-year-old monarch.

The ensuing ‘Sandringham Summit’ saw the Queen, backed by the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge, stand firm against her grandson and his wife, who were demanding they be allowed to move to North America in pursuit of their fortunes while continuing to serve her as ‘quasi-working royals’.

In the end the couple were forced to agree not to use their royal titles for commercial gain. However the Queen did agree to hold over some of their official patronages – most notably Harry’s military positions – while a 12-month review of their new arrangements was concluded.

It can now be revealed that over the past year a ‘battle royale’ over these official roles has raged behind the scenes, with neither side willing to concede.

Harry and Meghan have categorically refused to accept their loss of standing and insisted they wanted to continue with limited royal duties while landing contacts with firms such as Spotify and Netflix.

The Queen, however, has told the couple that their commercial careers were completely incompatible with the impartiality required of those in public service.

According to one official, she made it ‘abundantly clear’ to her grandson that when it comes to being a working royal you are either in, or you are out, telling him: ‘You work for the monarchy, the monarchy doesn’t work for you.’

With negotiations already tense, the revelation of the Oprah interview sent matters into free fall.

Harry and Meghan had kept this secret from the Palace, hoping to announce their interview bombshell once the ‘divorce deal’ was done. This angered officials, who had hoped to make a final announcement on the so-called ‘Megxit deal’ at the beginning of the week.

The couple, who announced on Sunday they were expecting their second child, were said to have ‘hit the roof’ when they saw the Palace’s draft statement, which said that in stepping away as full-time working royals they could not be of ‘public service’.

All lines of communication subsequently broke down.

With a deep but unyielding sadness, the Queen had no choice but to formally write to her grandson confirming that ‘Megxit’ was final.

In its statement yesterday, Buckingham Palace said: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty the Queen that they will not be returning as working members of the Royal Family.

‘Following conversations with the duke, the Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.

‘The honorary military appointments and royal patronages held by the Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of the Royal Family.’

They added: ‘While all are saddened by their decision, the Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family.’

Four minutes later a spokesman for the Sussexes retorted: ‘As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role.

‘We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.’

Harry and Meghan will still be invited to family events such as Trooping the Colour and the prince is expected to join his brother, Prince William, to unveil a statue in memory of their late mother Princess Diana at Kensington Palace on July 1.

But no one was pretending last night that relations are likely to be anything other than uncomfortable in future.

‘There is absolutely nothing wrong with what Harry and Meghan have chosen to do, but they cannot do it as royals and as public servants,’ said one insider.

‘The only hope is that perhaps now that the business side of things have been removed, they can start to repair their personal relationships.’  

What the royal statements say… and what they REALLY mean: How ‘deeply disappointed’ Queen’s announcement and Harry and Meghan’s ‘rude’ response reveal two ‘VERY different attitudes to a life of service’

By Mark Duell for MailOnline 

The two statements issued by Buckingham Palace and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle three minutes apart today laid bare the ‘deep divisions’ between the Sussexes and the rest of Royal Family, royal experts said today.

The Palace referred to the Sussexes in a statement issued to all the media at 12.01pm as ‘much loved members of the family’ and said it was ‘saddened by their decision’ in failing to return as working royals.

It also revealed the Queen had ‘written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’.

But Harry and Meghan hit back in their own statement three minutes later, saying they ‘remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world’, adding: ‘We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.’

This statement was issued by their spokesman at 12.04pm only to their trusted media partners such as royal biographer Omid Scobie, the author of Finding Freedom, who was among the first to post it on Twitter.

Here, royal experts analyse the meanings behind the statements from the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace.  

The Buckingham Palace statement begins by outlining how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed to the Queen that they will not be returning as working members of the royal family. It adds: 

‘Following conversations with the duke, the Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.’

BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said there is almost an unspoken sentence after that from the Queen: ‘A life of public service like I have led, like my husband has led at the age of nearly 100, like the rest of your family continue to lead but which you have decided to opt out of’. The Palace statement continues: 

‘The honorary military appointments and royal patronages held by the duke and duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of the royal family.’

Royal expert Robert Jobson, author of the forthcoming book Prince Philip’s Century, says Harry, who served in the Armed Forces with distinction, is ‘understandably upset’ at losing his titles, military associations and patronages, ‘but what did he honestly expect?’ 

Harry will also no longer be Captain General of the Royal Marines, nor hold two other honorary military appointments.

Royal writer Penny Junor said: ‘It does draw a line. It’s hurtful but every divorce is hurtful. This is the decree absolute.

‘People lose things in a divorce. They lose pets, they lose houses, they lose children, and there was no way this was going to end well.’

A royal source said they had ‘absolutely, no question’ wanted to keep the positions they had lost.

The official statement goes on:

‘While all are saddened by their decision, the duke and duchess remain much loved members of the family.’ 

Mr Witchell said: ‘Of course they’re ”saddened”, as the statement says, they’re deeply disappointed I think with how matters have turned out.’ 

He added: ‘I sense a real sense of exasperation in these statements on both sides.’

Speaking to MailOnline this afternoon, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said of the phrase ‘much loved’ in Buckingham Palace’s statement: ‘I think this means that Harry in particular, is very dear to the Queen.’ 

Speaking about the word ‘saddened’, he added: ‘Obviously there is disappointment by their decision not to return, though this was inevitable. Whereas it is Meghan who has undoubtedly been the driving force in this, Harry has changed and they are a united couple in this decision.’

ITV royal editor Chris Ship said that normally with statements from the Palace you have to ‘dog down’ to discover what has happened, but not so here.  

‘It’s a pretty sharp way to end there. I think it rather suggests it wasn’t very pleasant at all,’ he said.

‘That jumped out at me as soon as i read it.’

The spokesman for Harry and Meghan said: 

‘As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role.’

Mr Witchell told the BBC News Channel today the phrase ‘as evidenced by their work over the past year’ revealed a sense of the couple ‘thumbing their noses’, saying ‘don’t tell us how to lead our lives’.

Royal experts say that the section of the statement emphasising that the couple have ‘offered their continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role’ reveals that they strongly disagree that the commitments they have made are incompatible with keeping royal patronages.

The statement from the couple goes on: 

‘We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.’

Royal commentators say the first sentence reveals very different attitudes to the concept of service.

Of the Sussexes’s reference to service being ‘universal’, Mr Fitzwilliams said: ‘The way the Sussexes see the world is different. They are less formal. It indicates to their former patronages that they are very unhappy to lose official links with them.’ 

Ms Junor said of the response from the Sussexes: ‘It sounds petulant. They sound disappointed and hurt and I can understand that.’

She added: ‘It’s sort of two fingers at the institution – the men and women that run it.

‘I don’t think it would be to the Queen because I imagine they think the Queen is being advised, which she is.’

Ms Junor described the conclusion to Megxit as the final step in a troubled divorce proceedings, following on from Harry and Meghan quitting as senior working royals last year.

Royal commentator Robert Jobson told MailOnline Harry and Meghan saying they remain committed to ‘duty and service to the UK and around the world’ and adding that ‘we can all live a life of service and that service is universal’ was ‘simply rude’.

‘It is almost laying down the gauntlet to the Queen and the Royal Family, implying their brand of modern royalty is better,’ he said.

Mr Jobson continued: ‘It is a sad but inevitable consequence of Harry and Meghan’s decision to quit the royal family and live in America as private individuals that they are effectively now out in the cold.

‘They took a decision that they no longer wanted to commit full time to serve the Queen and monarchy, but felt they still had a role to play.

‘I am afraid after a year in which the Queen hoped the dust would settle, which left the door open should they change their minds, the Queen, on advice, has decided that the door has to be firmly shut.

‘Her Majesty’s decision gives clarity to a confusing situation and in my opinion the only course she could take. But there is a cool and hidden anger there too in her statement.’

He added that the fact they released the statement while Prince Philip is recovering in hospital is ‘remarkable too and speaks volumes’.

Mr Jobson continued: ‘The Palace statement makes the distinction between Crown and Family. The Queen acknowledges that they are loved as members of her family. But that does not hide the fury over their decision to give an interview to Oprah that will inevitably open up old wounds.

‘The interview is clearly the straw that broke the camel’s back. What astonishes me is Harry and Meghan’s frankly rude response.

‘They seem hell bent on undermining the Queen’s decades of duty and service, and that of the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales as well as other working royals, with their flippant and petulant remark.

‘To say they remain committed to ”duty and service to the UK and around the world” and adding that ”we can all live a life of service and that service is universal” is simply rude.’

He said that Harry’s title the Duke of Sussex, a royal dukedom, and his position in the line of succession should also be removed.

Mr Jobson added: ‘I feel that should be for members of the Royal Family who are committed to and working for the institution. It is not, after all, about personalities.

‘I feel sorry for the Queen, but also for The Prince of Wales – who must be torn emotionally by his son’s rogue behaviour – and Prince William who now has to go forward bearing a much greater load, he had hoped to share with his brother.

‘The Sussexes seem only concerned with their feelings and how events impact on them.

‘Harry, who served in the Armed Forces with distinction, is understandably upset at losing his honorary titles and military associations and patronages. But what did he honestly expect?

‘Being a member of the royal family is a life time commitment. It comes with great privileges but also great responsibilities. 

‘Harry and Meghan have decided to walk away from the royal family and meeting those responsibilities. It is a price they have to pay.

‘Harry and Meghan talk a lot about respecting the Queen. It’s time they showed it with their actions not just empty words.’

And BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell told the BBC News Channel today: ‘I sense a real sense of exasperation in these statements on both sides.

‘The statement from Buckingham Palace issued at midday after a conversation ‘with the Duke of Sussex, the Queen has written, confirming it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’.

‘There’s almost an unspoken sentence which doesn’t appear in the statement after that: ”A life of public service like I have led, like my husband has led at the age of nearly 100, like the rest of your family continue to lead but which you have decided to opt out of”.

‘Of course they’re ”saddened”, as the statement says, they’re deeply disappointed I think with how matters have turned out. And then the Sussexes’ statement which concludes with these couple of phrases ”we can all live a life of service. Service is universal”.

‘Isn’t there just a sense there of thumbing their noses, ”don’t tell us how to lead our lives”. Harry I think will now perhaps finally realise the implications of the decision that they have taken, that it is not possible to do both – to have one foot in the Royal Family, and another foot outside. 

‘That is what the Queen has insisted on and that is what this statement from Buckingham Palace means.’

Mr Fitzwilliams said: ‘The statement from Buckingham Palace about Harry and Meghan’s future status and Harry and Meghan’s response highlights very different attitudes to the concept of service. 

‘The original statement from the Palace last January marking the Sandringham Agreement, was accompanied by a warm personal statement from the Queen. 

‘Here the Palace clearly feels that being based in California, with the commitments they have made and will make to Netflix, Spotify, the Harry Walker Agency and their non-profit charitable organization, Archewell, is incompatible with retaining royal patronages. 

‘The Sussexes reply makes clear that they disagree and the tone of the statement shows that they strongly disagree.’

Mr Fitzwilliams also told MailOnline it was ‘enormously sad’, adding: ‘The Sussexes lasted less than two years as senior working royals and no one expected them to return. However, it was thought possible that they might retain Meghan’s patronages and, most particularly, Harry’s military links which mean so much to him. 

‘As a veteran of two tours of duty in Afghanistan, who found solace in the army during the years after his mother’s tragic death, and also as the founder of the enormously successful Invictus Games, he will feel that he has lost a large part of his life, owing to the choice he has made as to with whom and how that life is to be lived.

‘The royal family have not forgotten how brutally they were treated when the Sussexes announced they were stepping back last January and caused a crisis which led to the Sandringham Agreement though they made clear they were not happy with that either.

‘These are deep divisions and the forthcoming 90-minute interview with Oprah is being given by the couple to a worldwide audience against this background. 

‘The discussions which have led to today’s announcements may well not have amiable. However, what the Sussexes choose to reveal of their royal life on Oprah in front of a global audience, may make for extremely uncomfortable viewing for the royal family.’ 

It comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were stripped of their prestigious patronages, with their decision to walk away from the monarchy and move to the US to pursue personal and financial freedom coming at a cost. 

Harry will lose his roles as Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Force Commandant of the Royal Air Force Base Honington, and Honorary Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Naval Commands’ Small Ships and Diving.

The decision came after Harry held talks with his grandmother the Queen and other senior royals ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Sussexes formally stepping down as working royals on March 31.