CBS had promised Oprah's interview with Harry and Meghan would be a "bombshell", and they did not disappoint.
Video / CBS
OPINION:
On May 19, 2018, as the spring sunshine dazzled Windsor, tens of thousands of people crowded the streets ahead of the royal wedding.
The usual aristocratic sorts started to arrive – morning suit-wearing chaps who looked like they were born with a polo mallet in their hands and what appeared to be the entire young female population of Chelsea and South Kensington who had cleared Philip Treacy's entire stock of four-figure hats.
Then came George and Amal Clooney, Elton John, polo hottie and cologne-spruiker Nacho Figueras, James Blunt, James Corden, Tom Hardy, Serena Wiliams and Carey Mulligan, to name only some.
Before the service had even started, history had been made: Never before had a member of the Fast and Furious franchise (Idris Elba) been in such proximity to the Queen; never before had a former Miss World-winner (Priyanka Chopra) sat within yoo-hoo-ing distance from the next two kings of Great Britain or never before had the house of Windsor found itself sitting across from the entire cast of a moderately successful cable TV series.
When Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, tied the knot on that May day, they made history by mashing together his world – the upper classes – and hers – Hollywood.
Harry and Meghan during their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Photo / AP
However, come nightfall and the picture changed markedly with the select 200 who made the guest list representing the creme de la creme of Tinseltown with old Etonian mates such as Tom Inskip notably absent.
Nearly three years later and as the Duke finds himself and his wife at the centre of a global maelstrom, another question has emerged to join the growing list of unknowns: where are Harry's mates?
It is now 10 days since the couple's tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview aired during which the Sussexes accused the royal family and the royal household of racism and callous indifference to her severely deteriorating mental health.
Their two-hour prime time special promptly unleashed a global wave of anger directed at Buckingham Palace, transforming the words "the royal family" into a byword for colonialism and white privilege.
Since then, the storm has only grown with the Queen putting out a stunningly terse – but no less pointed – statement and Prince William telling the media the royal family was "very much not a racist family".
As the days have gone on, various forces have marshalled on opposing sides, doing battle in the media with a growing cadre of celebrities, many of whom were there that day in Windsor, vociferously coming out swinging in support of the Sussexes.
In the days before the interview aired, her former Suits co-star Patrick J Adams offered up a powerful defence of Meghan, describing her as "enthusiastic, kind, co-operative, giving, joyful and supportive" and saying, "She has always been a powerful woman with a deep sense of morality and a fierce work ethic and has never been afraid to speak up, be heard and defend herself and those she holds dear."
Meghan Markle and I spent the better part of a decade working together on Suits. From day one she was an enthusiastic, kind, cooperative, giving, joyful and supportive member of our television family. She remained that person and colleague as fame, prestige and power accrued.
On the day the interview aired, Serena Williams took to Instagram, posting: "Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life – and leads by example – with empathy and compassion. She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she's experienced."
Within hours of the palace's statement being released, actor Janina Gavanker popped up on a British breakfast TV show (with the Duchess' approval) to reveal that there were "many emails and texts" to back up the royal's shocking claims.
Next up came TV host Gayle King (who also attended Meghan's controversial A-list New York baby shower in 2019) saying on air that the 39-year-old "has plenty of receipts … she's been keeping track of things," in regards to backing up her stunning royal accusations.
Overnight, King hit the headlines again after she recounted to US TV audiences that Harry has now spoken to Princes Charles and William but the conversations were not "productive" and claimed the palace was continuing to leak "disparaging" stories about Meghan.
Meghan and Harry leave Windsor Castle after their wedding in Windsor. Photo / AP
Clearly, in the wake of their Oprah outpouring, the Sussexes' Hollywood circle has heeded their rallying cry, with a growing list of celebrities willing to do battle on the royal couple's behalf in the media.
However, something striking has also become apparent: All of the loudest voices, so far, are people from Meghan's side of the aisle. While the LA side of their social circle have come out en demonstrative masse, from London? Crickets.
While both Harry and brother Prince William have always surrounded themselves with a cadre of old and trusted friends, many of whom date back to their days at their prep school Ludgrove or their late years at Eton, there is something startling about the silence emanating from the UK.
Maybe this is down to Harry's friends being seasoned hands at royal mateship, knowing that integral to keeping the role is keeping vehemently schtum around the media and simply adopting a batten-down-the-hatches, ride-out-the-storm approach.
But this is not another tabloid scandal; Harry has not just been caught dressing up as Saddam Hussein or been photographed stumbling out of some Prague beer garden covered in spilt lager and in dire need of a kebab.
Harry and Meghan arrive at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in London in 2020. Photo / AP
In lobbing such incendiary grenades at Buckingham Palace, a move that seems at bewildering odds with his claim that he has "too much respect" for his grandmother to have "blindsided" her, he has knowingly unleashed the biggest crisis to buffet the palace since the death of his mother and the stakes could not be higher.
This is the PR fight of Harry and Meghan's life and while they are clearly winning in the US, back home in Blighty the reaction to their outpouring has been mixed.
In the UK, both Harry and Meghan's popularity have hit new lows, according to new polling done in the wake of their Oprah tell-all, which also found that more people had a negative rather than positive view of the Duke for the first time.
Elsewhere, a Newsweek poll done last week found that "just 21 per cent of Brits believe all the couple's claims" with 71 per cent of "doubting at least some of their account". Translation: the majority of the UK is disbelieving of at least some of their interview.
Surely now would be the moment for a well-placed Eton chum or two (with permission, mind) to offer up a sympathetic interview or a quote here and there to help Brits understand what the formerly beloved British son is going through right now.
Empathy towards the duo would be a valuable commodity in this environment.
A pedestrian passes newspapers on display with front pages featuring images of members of the royal family, outside a shop in London. Photo / AP
And yet clearly, either Harry does not want to call on his British besties or does not see the need.
Beyond that, it's hard not to wonder, might Harry be a tad lonely right now? When Meghan moved to London in 2017, she found herself unmoored from her social circle and emotional support base and suffered an increasingly isolated existence. So is the mirror image of that happening now?
As they mark their first full year living on American soil, with Harry's retinue of old friends back in Britain, is he now suffering in the way his wife once did?
Obviously the events of the last year would have made it extremely hard to forge new friendships given the Covid restrictions which have locked down much of California.
Last January, when the Megxit bombshell had been dropped, when Meghan had returned to the couple's borrowed Canada home and their baby son Archie, and as the dust of their momentous decision settled, Harry was spotted enjoying a relaxed dinner at a west London pub with seven of his mates.
"They spent a good few hours laughing and joking," an onlooker told The Sun at the time. "He seems like he was just a normal guy enjoying a few beers and a meal with his pals."
Maybe it's a lot further from Fulham to Montecito than anyone realised back then …
• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
