Prince Philip is ‘not aware of full extent’ of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Oprah Winfrey fallout, a royal expert has claimed.
The Duke of Edninburgh, 99, left hospital yesterday following a month under the care of medical staff after being admitted with an infection and later undergoing heart surgery.
Katie Nicholl said the Royal Family are trying their best to shield him from the explosive claims made during the tell-all interview, which aired while he was in hospital.
‘The family are very keen that he’s not aware of the full extent of the interview,’ the royal commentator said in an interview with Australian outlet 9Honey.
She went on to say that while the widespread coverage may make it ‘impossible for him to completely avoid it’, she claims ‘efforts were made to protect him from the full force of the fallout’.
Prince Philip is ‘not aware of full extent’ of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Oprah Winfrey fallout, royal expert Katie Nicholl claimed. Pictured, Prince Philip arriving at Windsor Castle after leaving the King Edward VII’s Hospital in central London on Tuesday
Katie Nicholl noted how the Royal Family are trying their best to shield him from the explosive claims made during Prince Harry and Meghan’s Markle’s tell-all interview (pictured), which aired while he was in hospital
Prince Philip spent 28 nights as a patient in London at King Edward VII’s Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Hospital – his longest ever stay.
He was initially admitted on a precautionary basis for an infection, before having a heart operation midway through his four-week period in hospital.
The ‘Iron Duke’ was photographed leaving King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone at about 10.30am yesterday, with screens obscuring him in a wheelchair for the most part, before getting into a car and being driven away.
‘It was a great relief to see him leave in a car, not an ambulance, but he did look very, very frail in the backseat and I know the family are relieved he’s home but also deeply concerned about his health,’ Katie Nicholl said.
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Katie Nicholl claimed Kate Middleton has been left ‘disappointed and hurt’ in the wake of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Pictured, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to School 21 in Stratford, east London on Thursday March 11
Prince Philip’s departure from hospital came the same day as royal warfare erupted again after Harry and Meghan revealed deeply private family conversations to a journalist friend.
They told Gayle King that the prince had finally spoken to his father and brother following the explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Hours later, Miss King disclosed on American TV that the talks ‘were not productive’.
The breakfast show host also suggested that Meghan was unhappy no one in the Royal Family had thought to telephone her.
And, in a thinly-veiled threat, the presenter said the duchess had ‘documents to back up everything she said on Oprah’s interview’.
The fact the Sussexes chose to reveal sensitive discussions between senior members of the Royal Family met with an icy response from Buckingham Palace.
‘None of the households – the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – will be giving a running commentary on private conversations,’ said a senior royal source.
It comes after a tumultuous week for the Royal Family following the bombshell claims made in the interview with the US broadcaster.
The Duke of Cambridge was the first royal to personally respond to the racism allegations last Thursday during his first royal engagement since the Oprah interview.
He also revealed that he has not spoken to his brother since it came out, but added that he ‘will do’.
It was also the first engagement for Kate since she was accused by Meghan of making her cry in the bombshell tell-all chat.
Meghan said: ‘She (Kate) was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers’.
During the Oprah interview, Meghan also revealed details about their strained relationship, saying of pictures of them laughing at Wimbledon, ‘Nothing is what it looks like.’
She added that Kate being called ‘waity Katie’ in the press couldn’t compare to the alleged racism she faced.
Meghan also made allegations that she felt suicidal and turned to the palace for help.
The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah she ‘couldn’t be left alone’ and told her husband she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’ before claiming the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn’t a ‘paid employee’.
Describing how she considered ending her life believing it ‘was better for everyone’, Meghan said:
‘I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.
‘And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. I remember how he just cradled me. I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help.
‘I said that ‘I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere’. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution’.
She said that after confiding in her husband, she was forced to go to the Royal Albert Hall for a charity event in January 2019, claiming photos from that night ‘haunt me’.
She told Oprah she later reached out to one of the best friends of Diana, Princess of Wales, because she felt unsupported by the palace.
She said: ‘When I joined that family, that was the last time I saw my passport, my driving licence, my keys – all of that gets turned over’.
Meghan said Harry had ‘saved my life’ by agreeing to move to Los Angeles.
During the broadcast, Prince Harry hinted at the extent of the alleged rift between the two brothers, claiming that their relationship was now ‘space,’ but added he hoped time would be a healer.
He went on to claim he was ‘on different paths’ to William and spoke about his brother was ‘trapped’ in the Royal Family.
Harry also said he felt ‘very let down’ by his father Prince Charles, accusing him of refusing to take his calls and and then ‘cut him off’ financially when they emigrated.
He said: ‘My father and brother. They’re both trapped’ and added that his mother Diana would be ‘angry and sad’ that he felt he had to leave the royal family, but ‘she saw it coming’.
Harry said: ‘All she’d ever want for us is to be happy’, adding that his wife had ‘saved me’, declaring:
‘I myself was trapped, as well. I didn’t see a way out’.
The Queen broke her silence on the interview last Tuesday, voicing her ‘concern’ over the issues raised, ‘particularly that of race’, although the statement added that ‘some recollections may vary’.
There has been much speculation about which member of the royal family they were accusing of racism.
But during the interview the couple would not be drawn on who had deeply offended them.
Harry said: ‘That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.’
