Oprah Winfrey interrupted Meghan Markle’s speech at a California bookstore by walking into the room as Markle was speaking and searching for her front-row seat. Video footage of the faux pas went viral online after Oprah walked in front of the camera filming the Duchess of Sussex’s speech. Meghan appeared unfazed and carried on with her remarks after a brief pause.
The Duchess spoke during a Winfrey book club event at a newly launched Montecito Goodmothers bookstore, partly owned by literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare, is displayed prominently in the store, as is Meghan’s children’s book, The Bench. Markle gave the speech on the evening before the UK marked two years since the death of its longest-serving Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and some online observers criticized her for doing so.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliam, speaking on British media, said Markle had made a “dreadful mistake,” particularly as she used her speech to once again criticize life inside the world’s most famous Royal family. Fitzwilliam also looked back at the timing of Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which he said they knew would cause intense damage to the Royals. He condemned them for conducting the sensational interview while the Queen’s husband was in hospital and she faced fading health at age 94.
In her latest remarks about Royal life, Markle said she felt “uncomfortable” and “craved safety.” The California native has repeatedly opened up about her experiences as part of the British Crown and, during her interview with Winfrey, accused the family of racism and coldness toward her. The couple left the UK in 2021 and relocated to California after Meghan concluded she could not fit in with the regimented lifestyle of the Royal family.
In a book about her inability to adjust, Royal expert Tom Quinn said Markle initially wanted the glamor and worldwide fame that would come with being a member of the family, but perhaps she did not expect to be so tightly controlled or so significantly lower in status than her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, who is married to future King Prince William and is therefore much higher in the Royal pecking order. Quinn said Meghan was shocked that the home she shared with Prince Harry was so much smaller and less regal than the enormous Kensington Palace, occupied by Prince William and Princess Catherine. “She hated being a second-rate Princess,” Quinn said.