Oprah will also visit the couple’s home during the interview. A chicken coop features. “Nearly two billion people around the globe watched their wedding,” Oprah begins in voice over. From the outside, it seemed like a fairy tale. They were one of the most talked about couples in the media. Then they “stunned the world” by stepping back from their royal duties. It’s beginning. One! minute! to go! If anything makes you drop your Eccles cake (I’m talking good tweets): I’m on Twitter @helenrsullivan. Oprah"s friendship with Meghan Oprah met the couple for the first time in March 2018, when Winfrey was visiting London and was invited to Kensington Palace. Two months later, she was a guest at the Sussexes’wedding at Windsor Castle. Winfrey wrote afterwards in her magazine, O: “All mature beings recognised it as the beginning it was.” Oprah Winfrey has played a prominent role the couple’s life in the US, initially helping them to find a temporary home. Winfrey attended the couple’s wedding in 2018 and hung out with Meghan’s mom, according to Town & Country magazine. Oprah has also publicly defended Meghan, telling Gayle King on CBS in 2019 that the duchess had been “portrayed unfairly” and that she felt, “if people really knew her, they would know that she is not only everything you perceive her as being–graceful and dynamic in holding that position–but that she just has a wonderful warm, giving, funny heart. I see all the crazy press around her, and I think it’s really unfair.” Now, the Sussexes and Winfrey are neighbours in a seaside Santa Barbara county enclave, home to a slew of Hollywood heavyweights, and they even exchanged Christmas presents. Timeline of a royal crisis Here is everything you need to know about how we got here: March 2019: Their own household Buckingham Palace announced that a new household would be created for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the spring. Reports also suggested the couple originally requested their office to be completely independent of Buckingham Palace, but this was denied. June 2019: Split from Royal Foundation The divergence of royal paths gathered pace amid news that the duke and duchess were to set up their own charitable foundation, splitting from the Royal Foundation and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. October, 2019: Meghan talks to ITV Revealing that she had been warned before her marriage to Prince Harry that the British tabloids would “destroy” her life, Meghan spoke in frank terms about the pressures of her new life. “Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she told Tom Bradby, a friend of Harry’s for 20 years, in an ITV interview when he asked about the impact on her physical and mental health. Meghan added she had “really tried” to adopt the “British sensibility of stiff upper lip” but thought that “what that does internally is probably damaging”. January, 2020: “We are stepping back” Harry and Meghan announced that they planned to step back from senior roles in the royal family in an effort to become financially independent, a move which surprised the public – and also, apparently, Buckingham Palace. … but no deal at the royal summit Almost as if refereeing a meeting of opposing factions, a statement issued on behalf of the Queen described how there had “constructive discussions” at the summit. But reports, and briefings, cast the outcome of the summit in a different light. The couple were said to have been informed that they would no longer be able to officially represent the Queen. The couple was told “you can’t have it both ways” and chose not to be constrained “by some sort of review process” in contracts they signed. February 2021 After months in which the impact of Covid-19 slowed the evolution of “Brand Sussex”, tensions between the palace and the now Los Angeles-based couple emerged again at the end of a year-old review of their position. The couple would not return as working members of the royal family, the palace said, adding that they would also be giving up their royal patronages. Oprah Interview Also in February, couple announced they would give their first interview since quitting their roles as senior royals – with none other than Oprah Winfrey. Prince Harry and Meghan, who revealed on Sunday they are expecting their second child, announced their plans to step back from the royal family on 8 January last year. Bullying allegations On 4 March, the Palace announced that it would investigate allegations of bullying made against the duchess by former Royal staff. The claims centred on an email sent by the couple’s former communications chief Jason Knauf in October 2018 – five months after the couple’s wedding – reportedly in an attempt to force Buckingham Palace to protect staff, the Times said. The couple’s spokesperson said in response that Meghan was “saddened by this latest attack on her character”. A clip from the Oprah interview released shortly afterwards (but recorded before the allegations were made) showed Meghan saying that “the Firm” (shorthand for the institution of the royal family) was “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Harry. A new clip aired on CBS ahead of tonight’s interview (which is starting in 20 minutes’ time) in which Oprah asks why the couple’s son Archie wasn’t made a prince. ITV News’ royal editor has explained on Twitter, “My understanding of them rules is this: the children and grandchildren of the Sovereign automatically get HRH (unless, like Princess Anne she asks her kids not to have them). Great-grandchildren only get them if the Queen intervenes - as she did for Charlotte and Louis.” He says that when Prince Charles (Harry’s father) becomes King, Archie will be “a grandson of the Monarch - and therefore will automatically get HRH/Prince.” Meghan’s response to Oprah’s question is not included in the clip – so we’ll learn that later. What to expect The interview has been billed as “intimate” and “wide ranging”. Meghan is expected to discuss her relationship with UK tabloids and the paparazzi, her treatment by the royal family – though the couple are said to have the greatest respect and love for the Queen and will not say anything to undermine that, the Guardian reported in February – and the couple’s decision to consciously uncouple from their roles as royals. Last week, Meghan was granted an interim £450,000 downpayment towards her £1.5m legal costs in her privacy case against the Mail on Sunday. The payment follows her victory last month against Associated Newspapers Ltd, publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, over extracts published from a private handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. Summary Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Oprah’s interview with the Duchess of Sussex – and an appearance by Prince Harry at the end. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you context and recent commentary as the interview happens – as well as every key moment – starting in 30 minutes’ time. Ahead of the interview, we’ll be catching you up on what to expect and what has happened in recent weeks – as well as Meghan’s friendship with Oprah, what else is happening with the royal family and some jolly good posts. If anything makes you spit your Earl Grey (I’m talking good tweets): I’m on Twitter @helenrsullivan. The interview is the first by the couple since since quitting their roles as senior royals. The pair who announced in January 2020 that they would step back from senior roles in the royal family in an effort to become financially independent, and this year confirmed that they would not return as working royals. Tonight’s two-hour CBS special is expected to attract more eyeballs than the Super Bowl. Here is the latest in the saga: On 4 March, the Palace announced that it would investigate allegations of bullying made against the duchess by former Royal staff. The claims centred on an email sent by the couple’s former communications chief Jason Knauf in October 2018 – five months after the couple’s wedding – reportedly in an attempt to force Buckingham Palace to protect staff, the Times said. The couple’s spokesperson said in response that Meghan was “saddened by this latest attack on her character”. A clip from the Oprah interview released shortly afterwards (but recorded before the allegations were made) showed Meghan saying that “the Firm” (shorthand for the institution of the royal family) was “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Harry.