A right Royal mess: a brief history of car crash interviews
The British Royal family is well versed in detonating explosive tell-all interviews and leaving drama in their wake. Whether it involves sex, money or power, the soap opera of a regal family has a jam-packed portfolio of scandal after scandal; they may just have the makings of an award-winning Netflix series – oh wait. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are the latest royals to face the glaring camera lens. But before we prepare ourselves and ready the popcorn for the 90-minute special, Oprah with Meghan and Harry, let us look back at the history of the royal interview, what can go wrong – and what can go even worse.
Prince Charles interviewed by Jonathan Dimbleby (1994)
An admission of adultery on live television from a future King was bound to be explosive.
The Prince of Wales’ interview with his biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, was an attempt for the future sovereign to seem more ‘down-to-earth’ in lieu of allegations of infidelity (The Sun had set up a special telephone poll which found that two-thirds of callers felt the Prince’s behaviour made him unfit to be King). However, as fate would have it, the nationwide broadcast reopened – rather than closed – old wounds.
Three-quarters of the way through the interview, Dimbleby asked the Prince if he had been “faithful and honourable” since marrying Lady Diana Spencer back in July 1981. “Yes, absolutely,” the Prince replied. “And you were?” pressed Dimbleby. “Yes,” Prince Charles replied before adding the nuclear bomb of a sentence: “Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.” So that’s a no then.
The interview prompted Princess Diana to retaliate with her side of the story a year later.
Princess Diana interviewed by Martin Bashir (1995)
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and the Princess of Wales made sure to make an ice sculpture out of her exclusive interview with BBC Panorama. An estimated 22.8 million viewers tuned in to watch herself and the BBC journalist Martin Bashir talk about life as a royal. To the Palace’s shock horror, Diana spoke openly about her struggles with bulimia, self-harm, post-natal depression, and her own infidelity.
At one point, Bashir infamously asked: “Do you think Mrs Parker Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?”. A brief silence ensued before Diana delivered the headline-hitter of a sentence: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
The interview was the final straw for the Queen. Sir Richard Eyre, ex-director of the National Theatre, said he had lunch with the Queen shortly afterwards, who reportedly told him: “Frightful thing to do, a frightful thing that my daughter-in-law did.” A month later, The Queen sent a letter to the Prince and Princess of Wales asking them to divorce. The divorce was finalised in 1996.
Sarah Ferguson interviewed by Michael Usher (2011)
After making her own debut on Oprah back in 1996, where she famously said that being a royal “was not a fairy-tale”, the Duchess of York – more colloquially known as ‘Fergie’- also appeared on 60 Minutes Australia back in 2011.
In the interview, Michael Usher asked her about News of the World “cash-for-access” sting where she allegedly tried to sell access to her former husband, Prince Andrew, for half a million pounds. The now-defunct newspaper had sent an undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, otherwise known as the ‘Fake Sheikh’, to meet the Duchess. In the footage, Fergie can be heard saying, “I can open any door you want, and I will for you.”
When the footage was played, Fergie saw red: “Don’t try to trick me now because I’m not going to play this game,” she says before asking the producers to “delete that bit.” Usher pressed on with questioning the scandal, and Fergie’s eyes roll so far back she must have seen herself think. “How big of a wakeup call has it been?” Usher presses on. “What more can I say, what more can I say,” Fergie replies before storming off to take “five minutes”, only never to be seen again.
The Channel 7 journalist said it was “the largest train wreck interview” he’d ever done, adding that the experience was “absolutely horrendous”.
Meghan Markle interviewed by Tom Bradby (2019)
The famous ITV interview with Tom Bradby during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s South Africa tour was the first glimpse of the couple struggling with royal life. Bradby travelled with the royal couple and their son, Archie, on their 10-day tour of Africa for the ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. The documentary included a candid interview with Meghan, where she revealed her struggle to cope through pregnancy and the early stages of motherhood amid the pressures of the press.
At one point, Bradby asked if she was okay, and she replied, “Thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.” Bradby then added: “And the answer is, would it be fair to say, not really okay? That it’s been a struggle?” To which Meghan confirmed: “Yes”.
The Daily Telegraph’s royal correspondent, Camilla Tominey, said the interview with Bradby was “problematic” (you don’t say) for the Queen and was “on a par with Princess Diana’s explosive sit-down with Panorama”.
Prince Andrew interviewed by Emily Maitlis (2019)
The crème de la crème of all shocking royal interviews has to be when the BBC’s Emily Maitlis wiped the floor with Prince Andrew. At the height of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, and for some reason unbeknownst to humanity, Prince Andrew decided it was a good idea to grant an exclusive interview to Newsnight to face a line of questioning over his friendship with the late sex-offender.
Instead of using the interview as a means to rebuild his shattered reputation, he managed to splinter it into a million pieces. There are a whole host of bizarre statements, but here are a few: First off, the Prince said it was “honourable” and “convenient” to stay at Epstein’s (a known paedophile’s) home and also refused to regret his association with the sex criminal.
Secondly, upon hearing accusations by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre (then known as Virginia Roberts) that he had been “profusely sweating”, the Prince replied saying he had a medical condition which meant he couldn’t sweat: “I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenalin in the Falklands War when I was shot and I simply… it was impossible for me to sweat”, he replied.
Thirdly, when asked about the day in which Giuffre’s allegations are said to have taken place the Prince said he was not out in London, “but at home with the children” and that he later took his daughter, Princess Beatrice, to a birthday party at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking. He added that he remembered it “weirdly distinctly” because it “was a very unusual thing” for him to do.
The car crash of an interview led to Andrew stepping down from public life for the foreseeable future. Recently, it has been reported that he will not attend the Queen’s birthday parade this year and it is likely that as with his nephew, Harry, he will soon be relieved of his military roles.
Duke and Duchess of Sussex interviewed by Oprah
The “wide-ranging” interview with Oprah Winfrey will be screened on Sunday 7th March, at 8 pm Eastern Time (1 am on Monday 8th March, GMT or at 9 pm on ITV).
The bulk of the interview is to be a two-way conversation with Oprah and Meghan, where Harry will join for a concluding, future-focused segment. There is unlikely to be the same sort of on-air unravellings as Emily Maitlis’s takedown of Prince Andrew or Michael Usher’s provocative interrogation of Sarah Ferguson. Oprah and Meghan are said to be very close and of mutual benefit to one another, so it’ll be no surprise if scolding is the interrogation is lenient. Regardless, there is no doubt that it’ll erupt and make a tidal wave of headlines the following day.
It would appear that the Queen’s supposed mantra of “never explain, never complain” in a bid to keep things private, has fallen on deaf ears. If precedent is anything to go by, Her Majesty the Queen should find some noise-cancelling headphones and pronto.