Meghan and Harry: Questions the US had about Oprah interview
2021-03-10 14:51:16
Millions of Americans tuned in to watch Oprah Winfrey's explosive interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, and some are wondering what the royals meant by some of the things they said.
So what is "The Firm" they referred to, why did Meghan hand over her passport, and is there really an HR department for the royals?
What sort of security do royals get?
The California couple say they were not offered a security detail for their newborn son Archie, and were therefore required to make deals to earn enough money to protect him.
"The Netflixes and Spotifys of it all was never part of the plan," Harry said, adding that his father Prince Charles cut him off financially last year.
The exact details of the royals' protection, which is paid for by the British public, is not widely known due to security reasons, says Robert Finch, Dominion Chairman of The Monarchist League of Canada, a monarchist advocacy organisation that promotes the Crown in Canada.
So there is a lot of speculation about what the truth is, he says.
"The degree of security depends on seniority and visibility of a royal - some are given protection only when performing official duties, not 24/7 - though some live within a protected cordon, such as Kensington Palace."
Within Scotland Yard, there is a Royal Protection Unit made up of uniformed and plain clothes officers.
Many people suspect that there is a specialist commando unit, possibly made up of SAS troops, that "shadows" the palaces occupied by the Queen "and possibly the homes of the two next heirs by generation [Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge] - as the threat level rises or falls", says Mr Finch.
"But this is never discussed."
Did Meghan have to give up her passport and driving licence?
"When I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver's licence, my keys. All that gets turned over," Markle said in the interview, adding that those personal items were not returned until she left for California.
Buckingham Palace has yet to comment on the reason why such items may be held.
Historian and author Robert Lacey, who consults for Netflix series The Crown, says it was done for her own protection.
"Meghan had to hand in her driving licence under security rules," he says. "If she went out driving on her own, she would not be protected."
Author Marlene Koenig, who runs the website Royal Musings, says that the royals are given VIP treatment when they travel - they don't go through normal passport controls or wait for their baggage to be checked.
She says she can't imagine why her passport would be taken, but that it "would certainly have been requested when travelling on official tours".
Mr Finch says this is the first he's heard of this happening, "but one assumes that royals' valuable personal documents are kept in a safe or safes - under the eye of the overall palace security".
He says this may be done so the documents are not lost and are quickly available if a member of the Royal Family goes on tour.
"Sounds as if it fitted Meghan's narrative of being trapped and isolated, but really was routine, and probably anything would be accessible to her if she wanted it," he says.
Is there really a Human Resources department?
"I went to human resources, and I said, 'I just really - I need help'," says Meghan, adding that her request was denied since she is not a "paid employee of the institution".
"There's no HR department for working royals because it's a family affair," says BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond.
But there is an HR manager for lower level royal staff and the household, as set out on the Buckingham Palace website. Just not for senior household or staff.
Buckingham Palace says the HR department recently launched an investigation into Meghan over claims, which she denies, that she bullied several staff members into quitting.
It has not responded to the allegation that the same department refused to help her.