Four years ago today the Duke and Duchess of Sussex filmed their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Prince Harry, then 36, and Meghan Markle, then 39, sat down with the legendary chat show host in the baking California sun to reveal ‘the truth’ about their lives in the Royal Family.

Writing in his book Charles III: The Inside Story, Mail columnist Robert Hardman described the interview as the ‘the most astonishing unburdening of family secrets since the late Princess of Wales sat down with the BBC‘s Martin Bashir in 1995.’

 

The pair made several allegations that rocked the monarchy during the 85-minute conversation.

They claimed comments had been made about how dark Prince Archie‘s skin might be when he was born, while Meghan accused Catherine, Princess of Wales, of making her cry over bridesmaid dresses just days before her wedding.

Queen Elizabeth II then issued a statement saying that the issues raised in the interview would be dealt with privately as a family, adding that ‘recollections may vary’.

Since the revelatory interview the Sussexes have been accused by the likes of Piers Morgan of lying, with the couple themselves taking back some of their statements.

Here, MailOnline takes a look at eight claims made by the Duke and Duchess in the Oprah interview – and how they stack up four years later.

Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview was filmed in California between February 16 and 18, 2021

‘Three days before our wedding, we got married,’ Meghan said. ‘No one knows that but we called the Archbishop and we just said, “Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world but we want our union [to be] between us.”‘

The world held its breath as Meghan stepped out of a carriage in a gorgeous Givenchy gown to marry her prince at St George’s Chapel on May 19, 2018.

But the couple revealed in their Oprah interview that they were allegedly married in secret three days earlier – and that the Archbishop of Canterbury led the private ceremony.

Setting the scene, Meghan said they ‘were married’ at Nottingham Cottage – their home at the time, in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

But two weeks later, these claims were blown apart when the General Registrar Office revealed the couple’s wedding certificate for the first time.

It proved they were officially married on May 19, 2018 in the lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle after all, with the witnesses recorded as Prince Charles and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.

U-turning on their story, a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed to The Sun that the ceremony before the wedding only involved ‘privately exchanged personal vows’.

The Duke and Duchess smile at Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who they claim married them three days prior
U-turning on their story, a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told The Sun that the ceremony before the wedding was in fact a private exchange of ‘personal vows’

The Archbishop also denied marrying the couple before the ‘legal wedding’, claiming he simply met with them ‘in a private and pastoral setting’ beforehand.

‘The legal wedding was on the Saturday,’ said Justin Welby in an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper. ‘I signed the wedding certificate which is a legal document and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.’

Kate made Meghan cry over bridesmaid dresses

Meghan said: ‘A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining — yes, the issue was correct — about flower-girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings.’

Six months after the fairytale wedding between Meghan and Harry, headlines began circulating about a rift between the Duchess of Sussex and her sister-in-law Princess Catherine.

It was reported that Meghan left Kate ‘in tears’ over her ‘strict demands’ when it came to Princess Charlotte’s flower girl dress. But when speaking to Oprah, Meghan claimed that ‘the reverse happened’.

Expanding on the fight between his wife-to-be and sister-in-law in his memoir Spare, Prince Harry wrote that it was Meghan he found ‘on the floor sobbing’.

According to his account, four days before the May 2018 wedding Kate sent Meghan a text about her daughter Princess Charlotte crying because her dress was ‘too big, too long, too baggy’ and a terse exchange ensued in which Meghan said a tailor had been ‘waiting all day’ at Kensington Palace to make alterations.

Catherine stands with her daughter Princess Charlotte as they leave the wedding of Harry and Meghan at St George’s Chapel in 2018
It was reported that Meghan left Kate ‘in tears’ over her ‘strict demands’ when it came to Princess Charlotte’s flower girl dress. But when speaking to Oprah, Meghan claimed that ‘the reverse happened’

But recently a former member of staff clarified who had been left in tears.

‘The truth is that as with many of these spats between sisters, brothers or even sisters-in-law, both sides were really upset,’ they told royal expert Tom Quinn for his new book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, which will be released later this month.

‘During the discussions about the bridesmaid’s dress Meghan said a few things she regretted and Kate said a few things she later regretted but it was all in the heat of the moment. Both women were crying their eyes out!’