Prince William ‘said to be livid’ about Oprah interview says insider

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William is said to be “utterly aghast” after his younger brother Harry agreed to take part in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, to be aired on Sunday in the US. Reports claim the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge are “appalled” at this decision from Meghan and Harry. While some commentators believe William and Kate will not be mentioned in the “intimate conversation” with Oprah, the snippets already released from CBS show the Duke and Duchess of Sussex intend to speak candidly about Palace life — and how miserable they were behind the scenes.

Yet, royal historian Robert Lacey told Us Weekly that William and Charles did not actually take Harry’s initial suggestions to step back from the royal frontline seriously at the end of 2019.

He explained: “Harry had been talking to his father and brother, saying, ‘look, we’ve come to the conclusion we quite like Canada, we like being on [this] side of the Atlantic, we think we want to stay here for a bit, but we think we can still stay royal’.

“You’ve got this idea of ‘Sussex Royal’, a sort of compromise, a new form of expatriate monarchy — they could still represent the crowd in Canada, all these things.”

Meghan and Harry had to give up the use of ‘Sussex Royal’ in the first round of negotiations for their royal exit last year, as they would no longer be representing the Queen.

Mr Lacey continued: “Charles and William, according to Harry — and they’ve never denied it — were sort of offhand.

“They didn’t quite believe they [Harry and Meghan] were serious.

“It’s [like], ‘put it down on writing paper old chap, you know, send us an email and we’ll think about it’.

“And we know this because Harry himself and the other Palaces have agreed that this must have happened.

“Harry said, ‘no, I’m not going to send you an email, because who is going to process this email? Who is going to look at it before it gets to you?’”

However, Mr Lacey said that Charles and William did not want to talk about the idea of his royal breakaway until it “was in writing”.

The Sussexes’ fear that such a plan could be leaked to the press were also included in the book, ‘Finding Freedom’.

The unauthorised biography also suggests that this is where relationships became difficult.

Allegedly, one of Charles’ aides insisted that the pair could not meet the Queen until January 29 — even though they were returning from Canada at the beginning of the month.

A source close to the Duke told authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand: “He felt like he was being blocked.”

Even so, the Palace allegedly began to draft a statement about the Sussexes’ decision and the couple were able to see the first draft.

But Harry’s original email was then leaked to the press, although the source of the leak is still heavily disputed.

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When considering Charles and William’s reaction to Harry’s announcement, it’s worth noting that the Duke of Sussex has alluded to leaving the Royal Family in the past.

He was withdrawn from his first tour of Afghanistan back in 2008, because an outlet leaked his location and put the royal — and his fellow soldiers — in danger.

He subsequently told the Mail on Sunday: “I feel very resentful.

“Being in the Army was the best escape I’ve ever had.

“I felt as though I was really achieving something. I have a deep understanding of all sorts of people from different backgrounds and felt I was part of a team.

“I wasn’t a prince, I was just Harry.”

He added that just before he had been deployed, he had struggled with the spotlight.

He said: “I felt I wanted out but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself.

“We don’t want to be just a bunch of celebrities but instead use our role for good.”

Indeed, when examining the couple’s royal exit last year, commentator Kaitlin Menza wrote for NBC: “The move might seem severe, but for royal watchers, it’s been building for quite some time.”

Even so, Mr Lacey, author of the 2020 royal book ‘Battle of Brothers’ still thought that Charles might be the key to resolving the rift between William and Harry which is said to have contributed to their royal exit.

He said: “I would hope that the relationship between Harry and his father, which remains quite close and warm as indeed is his relationship with the Queen, that might be some way ahead for reconciliation.

“The obvious person to encourage a reconciliation is Charles.”

He added that he hoped behind the scenes that Charles was trying to build the bridges between the two brothers.

However, it’s not known what effect the Oprah interview may have on future relations between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family.

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