Meghan Markle "called the shots" when it came to her media interviews as a royal, insiders have claimed.
The sources have rubbished suggestions that the Duchess of Sussex was unable to do an interview with Oprah Winfrey three years ago.
Their remarks have been made following the airing of a clip of tonight's CBS interview with Harry and Meghan, in which the Duchess says it felt “liberating” to be able to speak.
She goes on to accuse the royal family of effectively gagging her.
“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 be able to make a choice on your own and be able to speak for yourself,” the former Suits star says.
"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."
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Oprah goes on to refer to a phone call between them in early 2018, in which Meghan reportedly said: "I’m sorry, it’s not the right time."
Some have interpreted her comments as meaning she believed that people were listening in on the call.
Since the clip began circulating one royal insider has come forward to claim that Meghan had more control over her appearances than she is letting on.
“It was the Duchess calling all the shots throughout," they told The Telegraph.
Another source said: "They had their pick of who to speak to and the freedom to choose.
"The idea they were gagged in any way just isn’t accurate.”
Both confirmed that Oprah and Meghan met at Kensington Palace shortly after their call, with no palace PR staff present.
A third insider denied suggestions that the palace vetoed media requests on the Duchess's behalf.
Harry and Meghan's televised conversation with the famous talk show host, which has fuelled tensions within the monarchy, will air in the US on Sunday night before being broadcast on ITV tomorrow.
If the chat show host’s past form is anything to go by, then the programme may prove to be as ground breaking as Princess Diana’s famous interview with Martin Bashir.
Among Oprah’s famed subjects are Lance Armstrong, who reversed years of denials by admitting doping his way to glory in the Oprah chat.
David Walsh, who briefed the Armstrong interview, said: “I thought it was masterful, the best interview I’ve ever seen.”
Other bombshells on the Oprah sofa have come from Michael Jackson, who revealed that he was afraid of his father; Ellen DeGeneres, who came out as gay; Whitney Houston, who admitted taking cocaine; and Tom Cruise, who joyfully jumped on the famed piece of furniture.
