ITV announced on Tuesday that Morgan would leave the program he hosted, “Good Morning Britain,” after he cast doubt on whether Meghan had suicidal thoughts, a major revelation from her blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain,” ITV said on Tuesday. “ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
CNN understands that Meghan’s complaint to ITV concerned the impact Morgan’s comments could have on others and how it could degrade the seriousness of mental health issues. The complaint did not relate to the personal nature of Morgan’s attacks.
On Monday’s edition of “Good Morning Britain,” Morgan questioned whether the Duchess was being truthful about having suicidal thoughts. His comments sparked a huge controversy in Britain, and he was rebuked by mental health charity Mind.
UK media regulator Ofcom said it had received over 41,000 complaints about Monday’s edition of “Good Morning Britain,” and had launched an investigation under its “harm and offence rules.”
On Wednesday, Morgan said that he “still” does not believe Meghan.
“I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t [believe her],” Morgan tweeted. “If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.”
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London — The front pages of Britain’s newspapers were dominated on Monday by Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, despite the fact that the majority of the British public had not been able to watch it yet. The interview was broadcast in the U.K. on Monday evening at 9 p.m. local time.
“It was both everything we had come to expect — and not what we were expecting at all,” Camilla Tominey wrote in Britain’s conservative-leaning Telegraph Newspaper. “Make no mistake, this was a pregnant woman blaming the institution — and those within it — for failing to help her at her lowest ebb.”
“Whatever the royal family was expecting from this interview, this was worse,” Valentine Low wrote in an op-ed in The Times newspaper, another right-leaning publication.
But while some of Britain’s right-leaning press has been critical of the royal couple over the interview, especially given the timing of its broadcast as the prince’s grandfather Prince Philip is in the hospital, the BBC’s royal correspondent said the sit-down with Oprah had, “upended the narrative created by Britain’s best-selling newspapers.”
The U.K.’s biggest-selling newspapers, including The Sun and the Daily Mail tabloids, have published numerous negative stories about Meghan since her relationship with Harry became public.
With the interview, BBC correspondent Jonny Dymond said Harry and Meghan had “revealed the terrible strains inside the palace. They have drawn a picture of unfeeling individuals lost in an uncaring institution. They have spoken of racism within the Royal Family. This was a devastating interview.”
Meghan says royals discussed son’s skin color…
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One member of Britain’s opposition shadow cabinet said the palace, which recently announced that it was investigating allegations that Meghan bullied former staff, should also look into the allegations of racism made by her during the interview.
“I would expect them to be treated by the palace with the utmost seriousness, and fully investigated,” Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green told Sky News.
Afua Hirsch, author of the book “Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging,” wrote in an op-ed in the New York times that Meghan’s “treatment has proved what many of us have always known: No matter how beautiful you are, whom you marry, what palaces you occupy, charities you support, how faithful you are, how much money you accumulate or what good deeds you perform, in this society racism will still follow you.”
Left-wing commentator Owen Jones said: “Meghan Markle’s interview hasn’t just exposed the truth about the monarchy, a shadowy institution shrouded in secrecy despite supposedly embodying the nation. It’s currently exposing everyone who doesn’t care about either racism or suicide.”
Piers Morgan, who co-anchors one of Britain’s most-watched morning shows, questioned the context of the conversation about skin color that Meghan outlined, suggesting it might not have been racist at all.
His guest, TV-host Trisha Goddard, said: “What gets me is why is everybody else such an expert about racism against Black people? I’m sorry, Piers, you don’t get to call out what is and isn’t racism against Black people.”
.@TrishaGoddard says @piersmorgan can call out whatever he wants but he doesn’t get to say what ‘is and isn’t racism against black people.’
He responds he’s calling out Meghan’s ‘incendiary charge of racism against the Royal Family’.
Nadine White, race correspondent for Britain’s Independent newspaper, wrote on Twitter: “Worst royal crisis since The Abdication of 1936… and racism is undeniably at the core… While we are here, let’s normalise reporting about race in the media!”
The Times in the UK published an article on Tuesday citing sources who said that the complaint claimed the Duchess drove out two personal assistants from her Kensington Palace household and undermined the confidence of a third staff member. CNN has been unable to corroborate the claims.
The sources also said they approached The Times because they felt the version of the Duchess that had publicly emerged was only partially true and that they were concerned about how matters of bullying had been dealt with. The report said the sources believed the public “should have insight into their side of the story” ahead of the couple’s highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey to air Sunday, their first sit-down appearance since leaving London for North America last year.
Buckingham Palace said it was “very concerned” about the allegations outlined in the report.
“Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned,” it said in its statement.
“The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.”
Prince Harry and Meghan announced in January 2020 that they were stepping back as working members of the royal family and moved to North America soon afterward. Buckingham Palace confirmed last month that the couple had agreed with Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, that they would not be returning as working royals.
The move sparked talk of a rift between the couple — who are settled in California and expecting their second child — and the British royal family.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes dismissed the Times report as “a calculated smear campaign” ahead of the couple’s interview with Winfrey.
“Let’s just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation. We are disappointed to see this defamatory portrayal of The Duchess of Sussex given credibility by a media outlet,” the spokesperson said.
“The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma. She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good.”
The spokesperson said the claims made in the Times’ report were “defamatory” and that a legal letter of rebuttal had been sent to the media outlet.
The Times declined to comment when approached by CNN.
Harry touched upon the pressures of royal life during a conversation with fellow Briton James Corden for his “Late Late Show” last month.
“It was a really difficult environment,” the Duke said. “We all know how the British press can be … and it was destroying my mental health. I was like, ‘This is toxic,’ so I did what any husband and any father would do: I need to get my family out of here.”
Harry and Meghan have been mired in a long-running war of words and lawsuits with a large portion of the tabloid media, fighting multiple legal cases against publications and photo agencies that had printed details of their private lives.
Last month, Meghan won a privacy claim against the publishers of the Mail on Sunday after they published a letter she sent her father, and launched a stinging rebuke to “dehumanizing” media organizations after the verdict, saying the “damage they have done and continue to do runs deep.”
Again, before filming had even begun, CBS announced that it would be a 90-minute special.
Having conducted the interviews, reportedly over two days, the network has now extended the programme to two hours.
The decision is thought to have been made due to the strength of the couple’s comments, something likely to prompt unease in palace circles.
The Sussexes were not involved in the edit and had no control over the final production.
The decision to extend the running time will have been made by Harpo Productions, Ms Winfrey’s production company. The extension will, of course, also allow the company to shoe-horn more adverts into the programme, making it even more profitable.
Silenced
The suggestion that Meghan has somehow been silenced by the Royal family is designed to gain sympathy for her agreeing to this prime-time, two-hour, no holds barred tete-a-tete.
The couple have come under scrutiny for agreeing to speak to the US chat show queen despite complaining of media intrusion and unwanted publicity.
The couple are expected to argue that they deserve to give their side of the story – in the face of “relentless” and “inaccurate” press coverage, no doubt citing the legal action they have taken against the Mail on Sunday over the publication of Meghan’s letter to her father, Thomas Markle Snr and the disputed story about Harry and the Royal Marines.
The palace is likely to look unfavourably on any suggestion Meghan wasn’t allowed to have her say, however.
They will point to her Grenfell cookbook, the countless speeches she and Harry gave during engagements, the Queen taking her under her wing with a trip on the Royal train, and Meghan appearing to dominate the conversation during an outing with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to lay out their charitable vision in February 2018.
Throughout, household staff have been at pains to point out that they “bent over backwards” to accommodate the Sussexes’ needs and demands.
