Prince Harry agreed to sit down for the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey within 24 hours of being stripped off of his military titles, it has been suggested.
Speaking to The Sun, a source claimed that Harry agreed to sit down with Oprah 24 hours after the final Megxit deal was struck in February 2021 - which meant that Harry and Meghan would have to return their honorary military appointments and royal patronages.
“Harry and Meghan were very cross before Oprah because the final Megxit separation had just been signed off which included Harry not keeping military roles,” the source said.
Adding: “That was what made him so angry. He’s very emotional and his military roles were very important to him given that he served.”
During his interview with Winfrey, Harry said he was “hurt” by his grandmother the Queen stripping him of his royal patronages and honorary titles, although said he “respects” her decision.
He said: “I am hurt. But at the same time, I completely respect my grandmother’s decision.”
He added that he would still be keen to support the organisations he’s worked for in the past and that he would “still love for us to be able to continue to support those associations, albeit without the title or the role”.
On 12 February 2021, Harry was stripped off of three titles namely Captain General Royal Marines, handed down by late Prince Philip, Diving, Royal Naval Command, and Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington in Suffolk, and Commodore-in-Chief Small Ships.
Harry was an Army major who served two tours of Afghanistan as Captain Wales. After completing his training from Sandhurst, the Duke joined the Blues and Royals in April 2006.
He had also been secretly deployed to Helmand Province in Afghanistan, but he had to be withdrawn from there after his security was compromised by international media.
During the interview with Oprah, Meghan claimed that Buckingham Palace decided to remove the patronages before knowing about the Oprah interview; “this decision that was made about patronages and all of that was before anyone knew that we were sitting down with you,” she told the celebrity interviewer.
