The Queen "will not watch" Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey today.
Meghan and Harry's tell-all is expected to send shockwaves through the royal family with aides reportedly poised to "retaliate if the monarchy is attacked."
Despite the interview being broadcast across the world, one viewer who won't be tuning in is Harry's grandmother, the Queen.
The monarch, 94, will instead be focusing "only on duty and Philip" as the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, remains in hospital recovering from a procedure.
Royal courtiers have branded the interview a "circus" with the Queen expected to ignore it entirely and spend this week “focusing on the big issues”.
In a display of duty and service, the Queen is expected to increase her formal engagements in the coming days.
The monarch will reportedly make efforts to show the public where her attentions lie ahead of Commonwealth Day on Monday.
One insider told the Sunday Times : “What should Monday really be about? Children going back to school, the effectiveness of the vaccine programme — these are the big issues the royal family wants to focus on, not news about the circus that is Oprah and all thing Sussex."
But even though the monarch will not watch the interview the Queen will receive a breakfast briefing on the main points.
The monarch's most trusted aides are expected to stay up through the night after securing access to watch
the programme.
Officials are understood to be concerned Meghan’s version of events during her 20 months as part of the The Firm could create a groundswell of opinion against the Royal Family.
A source said: “Palace staffers will be going through every word and phrase forensically.
"The Queen will be delivered a detailed report.”
It comes as Meghan, 39, has criticised the constraints she faced as a working royal in a series of teasers from the Oprah interview.
The Duchess said it was "liberating" to "say yes" to an interview with the US chat show host - a choice she says she was denied while still a working royal.
She accused The Firm - as the royal family is sometimes known - of "perpetuating falsehoods" about her and Harry, 36.
Meanwhile hours before the Oprah interview, the royal family is set to show a united front praising the Commonwealth - the group of nations from the former British empire - and its response to the pandemic.
Several members will appear in their own TV special, just hours before Harry and Meghan, on a BBC One programme on Sunday evening.
The Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex - are taking part in the pre-recorded show called A Celebration For Commonwealth Day.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will chat in a video call with Dr Zolelwa Sifumba, from South Africa, an advocate for the rights of healthcare workers on the front line.
The Prince of Wales will pay tribute to the "extraordinary determination, courage and creativity" of the "Commonwealth's people" during the Covid crisis in a speech from Westminster Abbey.
It was at Westminster Abbey's Commonwealth Day service in March last year when the Sussexes were last seen with their family, sitting close to the Queen, Charles, Camilla and William and Kate.
A few months before that they had sent shockwaves through the monarchy by announcing they would be stepping down as working royals.
Palace officials have said the Duke and Duchess are waging a "war" and warned that courtiers “will come out swinging” if the couple attack any individuals in the tell-all.
Meanwhile sources close to Meghan and Harry have said bullying allegations against the Duchess have been timed to "undermine" their tell-all with Oprah later today.
The Duchess of Sussex has denied allegations that she drove out two personal assistants and humiliated another.
Amid the drama the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, remains at the private King Edward VII's Hospital in London following a successful procedure at St Bartholomew's on a pre-existing heart condition.
The duke, the nation's longest-serving consort, has spent 19 nights in hospital - his longest ever stay.
And the Sussexes have faced calls for the broadcast on Sunday to be postponed out of respect for him.
The Oprah interview is due to air on Sunday night in the US and Monday on ITV.
