CBS is paying Oprah Winfrey up to $9 million to air her bombshell interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry where they are expected to spill all about their dramatic exit from the Royal family.
The network has forked out between $7 million and $9 million in license fees to Winfrey’s production company Harpro Productions for the rights to the no-holds-barred sit down with the Sussexes, according to a report.
The interview is shaping up to be big business as millions are expected to tune in around the globe to watch the already escalating tensions between Meghan and Harry and Buckingham Palace reach a head.
Trailers teased this week show Meghan accusing the Royal Family of ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ about the couple as she referred to the palace as ‘The Firm’ and blamed her husband’s family for pushing them to speak out.
CBS is paying Oprah Winfrey up to $9 million to air her bombshell interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry where they are expected to spill all about their dramatic exit from the Royal family
This comes as Buckingham Palace this week launched a probe into allegations Meghan bullied Kensington Palace staff, drove out two PAs and inflicted ’emotional cruelty’ on aides.
The tell-all interview will be aired first in the US on Sunday night despite protests it should be put on hold while Prince Philip – Harry’s grandfather – recovers in hospital from heart surgery.
Despite the huge license fee for the host, reps for Meghan and Harry said they are not being paid for the special, nor are they receiving a financial donation for a charity of their choice.
However experts say the publicity surrounding the show will help propel the $1 billion brand the couple are on a mission to build in the US.
They have already secured deals with the likes of Netflix after leaving the UK last January for a new ‘quiet’ life on the other side of the pond.
Until now, the financial details of the hotly-anticipated interview have been a closely guarded secret.
Winfrey’s company produced the interview before selling it and its distribution rights to ViacomCBS.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal Friday about the multi-million-dollar deal struck between the two companies which was reached after the talk show host pitched to the network as well as Comcast’s NBC and Walt Disney’s ABC.
Winfrey has ties to both CBS and Meghan and Harry through her best friend Gayle King who is one of the network’s biggest stars and a friend of Meghan’s.
The network has forked out between $7 million and $9 million in license fees to Winfrey’s production company Harpro Productions for the rights to the no-holds-barred sit down with the Sussexes, according to a report
The interview is shaping up to be big business as millions are expected to tune in around the globe to watch the already escalating tensions between Meghan and Harry and Buckingham Palace reach a head
Winfrey also attended the couple’s Royal wedding in 2018, before even meeting the pair, after inviting Meghan’s mother Doria over to her Montecito mansion for yoga.
CBS stands to cash in on the deal through advertising deals, with a 30-second commercial during the two-hour show costing in the region of $325,000, reported the Journal.
This is roughly double the cost of a normal ad aired during the Sunday night slot.
The show was set to air for 90 minutes but CBS extended it to a two-hour special, giving the network an extra commercial break to rake in more ad spend.
Under the deal, CBS also has rights to license the special in international markets.
The network has already sold it in 17 countries and all of sub-Saharan Africa – where there are 52 countries – with the UK’s ITV paying £1 million for the rights to air it Monday after a bidding war with rival network Sky.
It is not known how much networks in other countries paid to air the special.
The two-hour interview will air first in the US on CBS at 8 pm ET Sunday – one of the biggest primetime TV viewing slots.
Though Meghan and Harry are reportedly not receiving a fee for their appearance, the show is expected to drum up more interest in the couple as they seek new business ventures for their lives post-Royal.
Under the deal, CBS also has rights to license it in international markets. It has already sold in 17 countries including for £1 million to the UK’s ITV
The couple founded their own production company and struck a five-year deal with Netflix in the fall, which is rumored to be worth around $100 million.
In December, they announced an exclusive deal – worth an estimated $25 million -with Spotify for their Archewell Audio podcast.
Spotify said a full series will launch in 2021 with the couple teasing their first podcast show – a holiday special – on December 29 featuring their son Archie and Elton John.
The show climbed to number two on Spotify’s UK charts and number nine in the US.
They have also made private appearances as speakers at events including a star-studded JP Morgan summit in Miami last February where they are thought to have netted up to $1 million.
But, despite no reported fee, their tell-all interview with iconic chat show host Winfrey has by far brought the ex-Royals the most controversy.
The sit-down with Winfrey promises to be explosive with an early trailer of the show featuring Winfrey saying there is ‘nothing off limits’ during their interview.
In the latest trailer released Friday, Meghan is seen claiming royal aides blocked her from having a personal conversation with Winfrey in the months leading up to her wedding to Harry.
Oprah reveals she called Meghan in February or March 2018 – two or three months before the royal wedding at Windsor Castle in May – to ask for an interview, but she declined because it was not ‘the right time’.
Trailers teased this week show Meghan accusing the Royal Family of ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ about the couple as she referred to the palace as ‘The Firm’ and blamed her husband’s family for pushing them to speak out
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018 (left), which Oprah Winfrey attended (right)
The Duchess says she remembered this talk with the US chat show queen ‘very well’ and ‘wasn’t even allowed to have this conversation with you personally’ because there had to be other people in the same room.
Their discussion confirms that Oprah – who lives near the Sussexes’ £11million mansion in Montecito, California – had been wooing Meghan for a tell-all interview for at least three years.
When asked why she was speaking out now, Meghan says in the clip: ‘Well, so many things. That we’re on the other side of a lot of – a lot of life experience that’s happened, and also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then.’
In another trailer released Wednesday, Meghan accuses the Royal Family of ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ about her and Harry and says she doesn’t know how the palace can expect her to ‘be silent’.
‘I don’t know how they could expect that, after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,’ she says.
‘And, if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, I… there is a lot that has been lost already.’
The clip was released the same day Buckingham Palace launched a probe into allegations that Meghan bullied her staff.
The unprecedented inquiry came after Meghan was accused of inflicting ’emotional cruelty’ on aides who said she is playing the victim.
Royal staff said they are members of the ‘Sussex Survivors’ Club’ after working for the couple, with some claiming they have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety because of their treatment by Harry and Meghan.
The pair were both labeled ‘outrageous bullies’, according to sensational claims.
‘Broken’ royal aides told of feeling humiliated, ‘sick’, ‘terrified’, left ‘shaking’ with fear, and being reduced to tears by the duchess.
In an extraordinary statement, Buckingham Palace announced a formal probe into the allegations where members of staff will be invited to contribute in confidence.
The Palace said: ‘We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
‘Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Royal Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned.
‘The household has had a dignity at work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.’
The Duke of Edinburgh has already spent 16 nights in hospital for an un-named infection and ‘observation’ of an underlying heart condition. He was moved to leading cardiac centre St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the city of London on Monday
Harry and Meghan have strenuously denied any bullying and accused the Queen’s staff of orchestrating a ‘calculated smear campaign’.
Palace sources slapped down the smear claim as utterly ‘disingenuous’.
The Queen has been warned to ‘hide behind her sofa’ when Sunday’s interview airs and has not been given an ‘advanced copy’ of the interview, reports claim.
This means senior royals and Palace aides will hear the couple’s comments for the first time at the same time as the rest of the world.
It comes as Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip continues to recover from heart surgery at King Edward VII Hospital in London after being transferred there today following his operation at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
Pressure has been building on Meghan, Harry and CBS to push back the release of the bombshell interview out of respect for Harry’s 99-year-old grandfather Prince Philip who is recovering from heart surgery in hospital.
But sources told DailyMail.com Meghan would never ask to postpone Sunday’s release and claim the palace is using Philip’s health issues as a reason to try to silence her.
The royal aides at the centre of palace intrigue
Melissa Touabti (right) is pictured with Robbie Williams’ wife Ayda for whom she previously worked
PA WHO QUIT AFTER WEDDING:
Melissa Touabti, the duchess’s former personal assistant, had previously worked for Robbie Williams and Madonna.
She played a key role in preparations for Meghan and Harry’s wedding in May 2018, but quit after just six months.
The Frenchwoman, 41, took a job with the billionaire Livingstone family – owners of the stately home Cliveden.
THE AMERICAN SPIN DOCTOR:
Jason Knauf joined the royals in 2014, having acted as a ‘crisis management expert’ at the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The 36- year-old American, who completed his master’s at the London School of Economics, served as communications secretary to the ‘Fab Four’ of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan before the Cambridges and Sussexes created separate offices in March 2019.
Mr Knauf now heads William and Kate’s charitable foundation.
THE AMERICAN SPIN DOCTOR: Jason Knauf (left) walks behind the couple at the Invictus Games in Toronto
Simon Case in Dundee in 2019
THE WHIZ-KID WHO RUNS WHITEHALL:
Simon Case became the youngest head of the civil service for over a century when he took the post at the tender age of 41.
The Cambridge history graduate – a noted fan of tweed suits and Barbour jackets – had previously been the principal private secretary to successive Tory prime ministers, David Cameron and Theresa May. He also worked at spying centre GCHQ as a ‘director of strategy’.
His most recent role before becoming Cabinet Secretary last year was serving as private secretary to Prince William.
THE TOUGH TALKING AUSTRALIAN:
Formerly the Queen’s assistant private secretary, Samantha Cohen had planned to quit Buckingham Palace in 2018. Instead, she agreed to stay on and help the duchess through her first months in the Royal Family.
The well-liked but tough-talking Australian became the Sussexes’ private secretary, but left in 2019 to work for the environmental charity Cool Earth.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II (accompanied by Samantha Cohen) attend a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge on June 14, 2018 in Widnes, England
THE PRINCES’ HR HEAD HONCHO:
Experienced human resources director Samantha Carruthers worked for De Beers and investment bank Lazard before joining the royals.
Head of HR for Prince Charles and Prince William until 2019, she is now deputy chairman of the board of trustees for child bereavement charity Winston’s Wish.
Samantha Carruthers worked for De Beers and investment bank Lazard before joining the royal