Meghan Markle’s friend Omid Scobie said her mind is “very much related to the situation here” and that she is in mourning because “she has also lost a family member,” as she directed coverage on ABC at the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday.
Meghan is pregnant and in California. He did not join Harry for his grandfather’s funeral, which comes a month after he destroyed the royal family during an interview with Oprah.
Scobie, her friend who wrote the book Finding Freedom, was on ABC as a London correspondent.
Meghan’s other American ally, Gayle King, spearheaded funeral coverage for CBS from the network’s Manhattan studio.
Scobie said, “Even though Meghan isn’t here, she clearly supports Harry … her mind is very much related to the situation here.”
He then continued: “We know he is supporting Harry in this difficult week for him, but he will also be sad because that also means the loss of a family member.
He grew up very close to the queen and Prince Philip in recent years. It was probably their strongest relationship within the family and those relationships dwindled this week.
“It’s going to be a sad day for her.”
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Meghan Markle’s friend Omid Scobie said her mind is “very much related to the situation here” and that she is in mourning because “she has also lost a family member,” as she directed coverage at the ABC channel of Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday
Gayle King, another of Meghan’s friends, directed CBS coverage.
He made no mention of Oprah’s devastating interview he aired on his own network while Philip was in the hospital, but said he suspects “family differences will be reserved for the day.”
“William and Harry, there’s no secret about it, they’ve had a tense relationship that you could tell since Harry stepped away from his royal duties.”
Then, during a conversation with Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, she said there was “family drama” that the world was speculating about.
Do we read too much body language? They could not stand shoulder to shoulder when their mother was buried. That was because of the queen’s design, ”he said.
Harry and William walked behind Land Rover’s custom defender who was carrying his grandfather’s body but who was a few feet away.
King said Harry had been in quarantine until “this morning” after flying to the UK without his pregnant wife Meghan.
“A lot of things have been done … in the end, this is a family that is in pain. I would suspect that all family differences would be reserved for the day,” he said.
Viewers caught his eye and told him to “show some respect.” Some thought she had been chosen to anchor the special report after Oprah’s interview.
He also led the coverage of Prince Philip’s death last week and the network devoted three packages to the morning program, but none of them mentioned Meghan, Prince Harry or the accusations of racism they made against his family in the interview.
CBS host Gayle King was at the network’s Manhattan studio and said he suspects family differences will be “reserved for the day.”
Viewers disapproved of Gayle King’s coverage and considered it “disrespectful.”
King is Oprah’s best friend, she visited Meghan in Windsor and attended her baby shower.
Undoubtedly, he collaborated in orchestrating the interview that sparked shock waves around the world and ripped the royal family apart at a time when Prince Philip was seriously ill in hospital.
King and his CBS cohosts not only promoted the interview widely, but also dissected it once it had aired and said Meghan had been “vilified” and “oppressed.”
Scobie announced Harry’s personal tribute to Philip earlier this week, who called him “a legend of jokes,” and has stated that the funeral will be the “first step” for him to amend his relationship with William.
Royal aides “walk on eggshells” as they try to navigate the rift, sources say.
King recently claimed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had reached an agreement with CBS and ITV to postpone their interview with Oprah Winfrey if Prince Philip had died.
Neither Gayle nor Omid made any mention of the devastating interview Harry and Meghan gave to Oprah
She had already provoked a row after revealing that the Sussex told her they had had conversations with Harry’s brother, Prince William and Father Charles, which “were not productive”.
Scobie is also known to be Meghan’s friend, and last month she posted an email asking her aides to issue a statement stating that Kate was leading her to cry over a bridesmaid dress.
On Thursday it emerged that William and Harry would not be standing behind their grandfather’s coffin. Instead, they will be on either side of his cousin, Peter Phillips.
The inmates stressed that the agreement should not be taken as a signal that the brothers would refuse to walk together.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “This is a funeral … we will not be attracted to these perceptions of the drama. The arrangements have been agreed upon and reflect Her Majesty’s wishes.
However, sources admitted that the fraternal dispute has occupied “a lot of reflection and energy” in the office of Lord Chamberlain, who is responsible for today’s arrangements.
“Everyone walks on eggshells so as not to aggravate the situation,” one said.
“To be fair, both William and Harry have made it clear that they want to focus on their grandfather’s grief and they don’t want anything to get in the way.
“But it has made everyone doubly nervous to say anything that can be remotely interpreted as critical of the other side. It has been a minefield.
Sources insist that the training of those walking behind the coffin was based on “bloodlines and age.”
Prince Philip will be laid to rest in a ceremony held today at Windsor Castle