Meghan and Harry: We have the ability now to make our own choices

The Duchess of Sussex has criticised the constraints she faced when a working royal and said it was “liberating” to be able to “say yes” to Oprah Winfrey’s request for an interview.

Meghan has taken another swipe at the institution of the monarchy in the latest clip released from her interview with the US chat show queen, saying she and Harry now have “the ability to make our own choices”.

Winfrey revealed she first approached the duchess for an in-depth chat a few months before their May 2018 wedding but was turned down with the proviso “perhaps there will be another time”.

Asked what was “right” about this moment to talk, Meghan replied in the clip aired on CBS This Morning: “Well, so many things. That we’re on the other side of a lot of … a lot of life experience that’s happened.

“Also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then. That wasn’t my choice to make.

“As an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is … different than I think what people imagine it to be, it’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes.”

The interview is being broadcast on US television this weekend against the backdrop of continuing concerns over the health of Prince Philip.

The Sussexes have faced calls for the broadcast on Sunday to be postponed out of respect for Philip.

Yesterday it was revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh has left the NHS hospital where he had heart surgery and been moved back to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital for continuing treatment.

Philip, 99, underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London on Wednesday – just three months before his 100th birthday.

The Palace said in a statement: “Following the Duke of Edinburgh’s successful procedure at St Bartholomew’s Hospital on Wednesday, His Royal Highness has been transferred to King Edward VII’s Hospital this morning.

“The Duke is expected to remain in hospital for continuing treatment for a number of days.”

An ambulance, followed by a car carrying the duke’s personal protection officers, was seen leaving St Bartholomew’s.

The duke, the nation’s longest-serving consort, has spent 17 nights in hospital – his longest ever stay.

He was initially admitted to King Edward VII’s – the royal family’s favoured hospital – in central London on February 16 after feeling unwell at Windsor Castle, before being moved by ambulance to St Bartholomew’s on Monday.

Philip has spent most of lockdown at Windsor Castle with the Queen, alongside a reduced household of staff dubbed HMS Bubble.

The couple, who have been married for 73 years, received their first Covid jabs in January.