Meghan Markle’s former Suits co-star blasts royals, as Duchess of Sussex says her new life is ‘liberating’

The Queen won’t be given an advanced copy of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Oprah interview, as the Duchess of Sussex’s former Suits co-star defended her. The interview was expected to deliver the biggest shock since Princess Diana’s explosive 1995 BBC sit down where she revealed Prince Charles’ infidelity. The CBS interview has already widened the gulf between Prince Harry, 36, and his family, with pregnant Meghan, 39, revealing she felt “liberated” since escaping Britain. And her Suits co-star Patrick J. Abrams has labelled the royal family “obscene” for launching a probe this week into accusations that Meghan bullied two of her staffers out of their jobs. At least 10 former members of royal staff are prepared to take part in the Buckingham Palace inquiry, which will be conducted by the human resources department, Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper has reported. Buckingham Palace said it was “concerned” about the bullying claims. The interview will air in prime time in America, while Channel 10 will run it on Monday night Australian time. It came as more bitter reports emerged, with sources claiming that Kensington Palace staff nicknamed Prince Harry “the hostage” because of Meghan’s alleged “Duchess difficult” behaviour. “They insisted that they had the same inflation-adjusted budget for the wedding as William and Kate – she got the choir she wanted, the dress, the carriage procession, the tiara – she got everything she wanted but it still wasn’t enough,” a source told the UK Telegraph newspaper. “She was constantly looking for reasons to say she had been deprived. Also, she wanted drama from the very beginning.” Meghan tells Oprah Winfrey, in a newly released clip of the interview, that she was constricted under the royal protocols. She complained that when Winfrey originally asked for an interview in 2018, she was not allowed to have a conversation with the talk show star without others present. “Well, I remember that conversation very well. I wasn’t even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right. There had to be people from the comp (inaudible) sitting there,” she said. When Winfrey asked Meghan why she was now doing the sit down chat that will cause earthquakes at Buckingham Palace, she replied: “We’re on the other side of a lot of … a lot of life experience that’s happened. “And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then.” Meghan added that she had wanted to do an interview earlier but was overruled. “That wasn’t my choice to make. So, as an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is um … different than I think what people imagine it to be, it’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes,” she said. “Yeah. To be able to just make a choice on your own. And to be able to speak for yourself.” The couple has been criticised for participating in the interview while Prince Philip, 99, remains in hospital. Royal biographer Robert Jobson, said the clips released so far were full of “over the top, melodramatic nonsense.” “The Queen and the Royal Family are not the Corleone family of Windsor,” he told The Sun, in reference to questions in the interview about whether Meghan was silenced. Omid Scobie, a Harper’s Bazaar journalist close to Meghan and Prince Harry, also defended the couple. He claimed that the royal family had covered up for Prince Andrew’s friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein but threw Prince Harry and Meghan to the wolves. “This is an institution that remained silent about the allegations about Prince Andrew. It does feel we have a slightly uneven playing field here,” he said on Good Morning Britain. STARS DEFEND MEGHAN The Duchess of Sussex’s high-profile friends – including her former Suits co-star Adams and Jameela Jamil – have publicly supported her amid explosive allegations that she bullied palace staff. “The palace were fine with all of Meghan’s ‘bullying’ for years and years until a few days before they fear she may out them publicly,” Jamily tweeted. “What are they covering up?” Adams, who played Meghan’s love interest Mike Ross in TV legal drama Suits, blasted the royals in a series of tweets. “It’s OBSCENE that the Royal Family, who’s newest member is currently GROWING INSIDE OF HER, is promoting and amplifying accusations of “bullying” against a woman,” Adams tweeted, suggesting that Meghan fled the UK “in order protect her family and her own mental health”. Adams, who attended Meghan’s 2018 wedding to Prince Harry and worked with her for “the better part of a decade”, described her as “kind, cooperative, giving, joyful and supportive”. However, the reality was harder than the fairytale. The Times reported bombshell allegations about Meghan, which alleged she “bullied” two staff out of their jobs, and put a third, Australian Samantha Cohen, under pressure. The Duchess has strongly denied the allegations, which her lawyers argued was a “smear campaign” ahead of her sit-down with Oprah. Ten will screen the full interview on Monday night, Australian-time. stephen.drill@news.co.uk