Court win, baby news and Oprah interview: Why Harry and Meghan are back in the news
Meghan Markle with Prince Harry. It is almost one year since the couple stepped back from their duties within the UK's royal family.
Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, former actress and philanthropist Meghan Markle, have been making headlines again recently for a number of reasons.
It is almost one year since the couple stepped aside from their roles within the UK monarchy to live a more private life, away from the relentless scrutiny of the UK press. In January 2020, Harry (36) and Meghan (39) announced they wanted to become financially independent and would step down as senior members of the royal family.
Almost one year on, Harry and Meghan revealed they will give their first televised interview to explain the reasons why they walked away from the monarchy. Their sit-down chat with famous broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, who attended their wedding in May 2018, will be aired on March 7.
‘Oprah With Meghan And Harry: A CBS Primetime Special’ – has been described as an “intimate conversation”. It will be staged in two parts, with Meghan being interviewed about “stepping into life as a royal, marriage, motherhood…to how she is handling life under intense public pressure”.
She will later be joined by Harry and the couple will speak about their move to the United States last year and their future plans.
The interview follows the couple’s announcement that they are expecting their second baby. A statement released on Valentine’s Day said: “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.”
The baby will be eighth in the line of succession to the British throne and soon-to-be older brother Archie Mountbatten-Windsor will turn two in May.
In November, Meghan shared that she suffered a miscarriage the previous summer and described "an almost unbearable grief" in a deeply personal article for the New York Times following their loss.
Their departure from the royal family came as a surprise although it followed years of what they described as online bullying and harassment by the media, which they accused of privacy breaches on many occasions.
They have brought publications to court, including Splash UK which photographed Meghan and their son without permission during a "private family outing" while staying in Canada, and in 2020 they announced that they would no longer cooperate with the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Mirror and the Express.
This month, Meghan won her UK High Court privacy claim against the Mail On Sunday over the publication of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father.
Since leaving their royal roles, they are no longer receiving financial support from the Prince of Wales and they paid back the £2.4 million (€2.7 million) of UK taxpayers’ money used to renovate their home.
The couple set up an audio production company, Archewell Audio, which went into partnership with Spotify for an undisclosed sum, believed to be tens of millions. Their Archewell Audio podcast streamed on Spotify late last year and included interviews with guests such as Stacey Abrams, James Cordon and Elton John.
They also signed a Netflix deal in the summer rumoured to be worth more than €115 million. They bought a €12.7 million home in Montecito, Santa Barbara and are now based in the US.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
