PRINCE Philip is likely to have known about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah interview and will have had “fruity words” to say about it, a royal correspondent has claimed.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, was in hospital undergoing treatment for his heart when Meghan and Harry went on TV to speak about their time as senior royals.
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The Times’ royal correspondent Roya Nikkhah has said the Queen still speaks to her husband about family matters, adding that he “would have known a lot of what was going on”.
It was previously claimed that the family were protecting Philip against the drama, with royal commentator Katie Nicholl telling Australian outlet 9Honey: “The family are very keen that he’s not aware of the full extent of the interview.”
But speaking to Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, Roya Nikkhah said: “We hear from people close to The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh that she still discusses family matters with him and still sees him as the head of the family, behind the scenes.
“The character that Prince Philip is, I don’t think for a second that he won’t have been reading the papers in the hospital.
“I suspect he would have known a lot of what was going on. I think he would have had a few fruity words to say about the Oprah interview, put it that way.”
During the programme, the Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers added: “Prince Philip probably wanted to bash some heads together I would imagine. He is not one for any nonsense.
“I’m sure his advice would be ‘everyone needs to settle down and stop sniping at each other’.”
The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, was released from hospital earlier this month after being admitted four weeks previous.
He went on to have successful heart surgery and later returned to Windsor in “good spirits”.
But during his longest stint in hospital, the Duke’s family was plunged into crisis as Harry and Meghan made a series of allegations against them.
The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey of conversations with Prince Harry and a “family” member about their unborn son and what colour his skin would be – and “what that would mean or look like”.
Meghan declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be “damaging” for them.
Prince Harry also said he would “never share” the full details of the discussion but that he was asked at the start of his relationship with Meghan, how dark the skin of their children might be.
It has since been confirmed that the family member involved was neither the Queen nor Prince Philip.
Meghan also revealed in the interview that she had suicidal thoughts while working as a senior royal.
The Duchess said she begged for help from the Firm after struggling with her mental health but was denied it – saying it was her husband who “saved” her.
Roya, however, said she was confused by the comments.
She said: “Harry is the most literate and clued-up person on mental health that I have ever met, going back many years.
“He has every single organisation plugged into [mental health] at his fingertips.
“He talks to them all the time. He knows about mental health. Which is why I was so struck and confused by those comments he made in the interview that he didn’t know where to turn.”
It comes after Meghan and Oprah’s close friend revealed the explosive interview would have been postponed if Prince Philip’s condition had worsened.
Gayle King, a presenter on CBS, the network which screened the £6.5million sit-down, said: “They had done that interview before Prince Philip went into hospital and if something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time.”
