Meghan says it is ‘liberating to be able to speak’

The Duchess of Sussex has said being a royal was “different than I think what people imagine it to be”.

In a clip from the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, due to air in the US on Sunday, Meghan was asked why she has decided to give an interview now.

“We have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to then,” she said. “That wasn’t my choice to make.”

She said it was “really liberating” to now feel “able to speak for yourself”.

It comes as Buckingham Palace is investigating claims the duchess bullied royal staff.

The report about the allegations of bullying levelled at Meghan were first published in the Times after the interview with Oprah was recorded. Meghan has called it the “latest attack on her character”.

The interview with Oprah, which will air in the US on CBS on Sunday and in the UK on ITV on Monday, is expected to hear details about Meghan and Prince Harry’s short period as working royals together before they stepped down for a life in the US.

In the latest clip, shown on CBS’s This Morning show, Oprah said to Meghan: “So I just want to say, I called you either or February or March 2018 before the wedding asking, would you please give me an interview. And you said ‘I’m sorry, it’s not the right time’. Finally we get to sit down and have this conversation.”

Meghan replied: “I remember that conversation very well. I wasn’t even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right? There had to be people… sitting there.”

Asked why now is the right time, Meghan said: “Well, so many things. That we’re on the other side of a lot of life experience that’s happened and also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to then. That wasn’t my choice to make.

“So, as an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is different than I think what people imagine it to be.

“It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say, yes, I’m ready to talk… to say it to yourself. To be able to just make a choice on your own and to be able to speak for yourself.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit their roles as senior working royals in March 2020, and now live in California.

On the reported allegations of bullying, the duchess has said in a statement through her spokesman she was saddened by the “attack on her character”.

The palace said it was “concerned” about the accusations and an HR team would look at the circumstances outlines in the article.