CHAT queen Oprah Winfrey and her entourage board her jet after two days interviewing Harry and Meghan amid simmering tensions with senior royals.
Our exclusive pictures show how the US star, a pal of the Sussexes, was with them before Buckingham Palace dramatically announced the final Megxit deal on Friday.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the very latest news...
Oprah, 67, left Santa Barbara airport — 15 miles from their £11million home in Montecito, California — six hours after they traded angry statements with the Palace.
Among her entourage were assistants and a dog thought to be her rescue cocker spaniel Sadie.
A source told The Celeb Report on Sunday: “They all looked very relaxed. You would have never have guessed they were in the middle of a royal drama.”
The insider added: “The interview was filmed and done this week before Friday’s announcements. Oprah had been with the couple immediately before they released their statement.”
The Celeb Report told yesterday how the Queen refused the couple’s bid for a “hybrid Megxit” which would have allowed them to keep royal patronages and military titles while seeking commercial deals in the US.
After a Palace statement said they could not continue with duties that come with a life of public service, Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, hit back saying: “Service is universal” and they would still “live a life of service”.
Commentators branded their remarks “disrespectful”.
Oprah had prepared her questions at home in Hawaii before taking her £50million Gulfstream jet to Santa Barbara on February 12.
She has another £71million home and 70-acre estate there a five-minute drive from Meghan and Harry’s home.
The announcement that she was filming a 90-minute interview was made last Monday.
Between then and Friday, Oprah sat down with the Sussexes — believed to be at their home.
It raises the prospect that the chat queen may have been advising the couple last week as Megxit drew to a tense close.
The source said: “Meg and Harry were interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday.
‘INSIGHT INTO THE RIFT’
“The pair are clearly very close to Oprah and the fact she’s been with them at such an intense time has given her a unique insight into the rift with the royals.
“The drama of last week means that Oprah’s tell-all show will be pure gold. It’s time to hide behind the sofa for the other royals.”
Oprah set off back to Hawaii at 7pm UK time on Friday.
She was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding and praised their decision to quit the UK.
She has shared weekly emails with Harry over plans to make a docu-series on mental health.
The Queen, 94, had been in Megxit talks with Harry since early January. She wrote to him last week to confirm the Sussexes could no longer continue as senior royals.
The news was broken in a Zoom call between just them.
Sources said although Meghan did not directly take part in talks “she was felt to be in the background in the room at the time.”
Harry was rebuffed after asking if he and Meghan could keep their treasured titles.
It is understood the Queen stuck to terms already agreed at the January 2020 Sandringham summit.
Her Majesty told Harry: “If you don’t want to continue royal life then I’m taking back the patronages and titles.”
The Celeb Report on Sunday can also reveal William and Harry had no one-to-one chat during the talks.
The final decision was taken by the Queen, Charles and William but sources said it did not require a four-way Zoom call.
An insider said: “It was done in the family and behind closed doors.”
On Tuesday the Queen spoke to UK Ambassador to the US Dame Karen Pierce.
Buckingham Palace said the call was routine but insiders said it was unthinkable that Harry and Meghan would not have been mentioned.
Although the family talks were described as amicable there were tensions behind the scenes.
In January, The Celeb Report on Sunday revealed Meghan’s name had been changed to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex on her son Archie’s birth certificate.
FINAL MEGXIT DEAL
The Sussexes said the change had been dictated by the Palace. But the Palace said her name was removed by her own royal staff.
The row erupted as it was emerging Harry had not got his way.
Teams on both sides of the Atlantic knew the Megxit decision last week.
It was signed off around the time Meghan won her privacy case against The Mail on Sunday.
The couple signed the Oprah deal last weekend and the interview was in the can within five days.
The final Megxit deal was announced at midday on Friday.
But such were the disagreements, the two sides did not draw up joint statements as they did in January 2020.
Buckingham Palace said: “In stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.”
Harry and Meghan were said to have had advance notice of the statement but “hit the roof” at suggestion public service was impossible outside the Royal Family.
Their response made matters worse and The Celeb Report on Sunday understands it has angered and shocked senior royals.
An insider said: “When you leave the police force you hand in your badge. You don’t then drive around with your blue lights and sirens on, skipping the lights and avoiding your parking fines.”
Another source said: “It felt like they’ve been trying to set up a rival royal family in California.”
The split had started amicably when Harry and Meghan launched a charm offensive over Christmas with calls to the Queen and Philip plus Charles and Camilla.
‘NOTHING IS OFF LIMITS’
In the same month, after paying back £2.4million taxpayer renovations, they handed over Frogmore Cottage in Windsor to Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her hubby Jack Brooksbank.
In early January, Harry asked to hold private conversations to sort out the 12-month transition period.
He and Meghan were keen to keep their patronages, especially Harry’s military titles and role as Captain General of the Marines. But the Queen feared they could be used to promote commercial deals.
As well as Oprah, Harry has filmed for The Late Late Show With James Corden, shooting its Carpool Karaoke segment on top of an open-top bus in Los Angeles.
Senior palace aides are now nervous as to what they have told Oprah. The host has been told that “nothing is off limits”.
It is understood Meghan will feature for the majority of the 90-minute show talking about life in the Royal Family.
Harry will appear briefly at the end to talk about life in California and his growing family.
The chat will be screened on CBS on March 7 but is not known how British viewers can tune in.
British journalist Richard Mineards, 67, has a home close to the Sussexes.
He said: “It’s almost certain the Oprah interview was done at their house — it was all very hush hush of course.
“I’m sure Oprah will have asked a lot of ‘soft’ questions as she is their friend, but the upcoming show is causing a lot of consternation at Buckingham Palace, I hear.”
Meanwhile, one Palace aide was reported to have said of the couple’s Megxit statement on Friday: “They didn’t even think to let the Queen have the last word.
“They didn’t think that with Prince Philip in hospital, she might have enough on her plate.
“And they didn’t think that there is a difference between philanthropy and commitment to public duty. One is playing at it and one is doing it day after day, come rain or shine.
“By responding as they did, the duke and duchess are thumbing their noses. I think it could turn out to be a strategic mistake.”
