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Gayle King and Omid Scobie slammed for Prince Philip's funeral coverage, Internet calls them 'Meghan’s minions'

'Really Gayle King & Omid Scobie? Even on one the saddest days for the royal family you just can’t help yourself can you?' said one tweet

Gayle King and Omid Scobie, both friends of Meghan Markle, were slammed on Saturday, April 17, for how they covered Prince Philip's funeral service. 

While leading CBS' coverage of the funeral, King made no mention of the bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan and Prince Harry that her own network aired while the Duke of Edinburgh was in the hospital. However, she did talk about the fact that she suspected that "family differences will be set aside for the day."

"William and Harry, there's no secret about this, have had a strained relationship you could say since Harry stepped away from his royal duties," she said while commenting on the funeral proceeding. 

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She continued to hark on the controversy surrounding the British royal family, especially following Megxit, which saw Harry and Meghan stepping down as senior members of the monarchy last year and flying to the United States to settle down here with their son.

During a discussion with Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, King said there was "family drama" that the world was speculating over. "Are we reading too much into the body language? They didn't stand shoulder to shoulder when their mother was buried. This was by the Queen's design," she said. "A lot has been made...at the end of the day, this is a family that's grieving. I would suspect all of the family differences would be set aside for the day."

She was slammed by viewers who thought she lacked the respect that needed to be shown during the somber event. Many even questioned the fact that CBS has chosen her to anchor the special report after Oprah's interview. 

Meghan's friend, Scobie, who was leading the coverage on ABC on Prince Philip's funeral, chose to highlight the feelings of the Duchess of Sussex. Meghan was unable to attend the funeral due to her pregnancy. Scobie was criticized for focussing on Meghan Markle instead of the life and memories of Prince Philip.

Scobie, who wrote the book 'Finding Freedom,' was in London when he said, "Although Meghan isn’t here, she is, of course, supporting Harry. Her mind is very much on the situation over here. We know that she’s supporting Harry in this very difficult week for him, but she’ll also be sad because this is also the loss of a family member for her."

He added: "She grew very close to the queen and Prince Philip over the recent years. It was probably her strongest relationship within the family and those relations then get smaller this week. It’ll be a sad day for her."

Both King and Scobie got their fair share of criticisms on social media. "Pathetic ⁦@GayleKing Today is not about William, Harry & Meghan. This is why I stopped watching ⁦@CBSThisMorning Your celebrity obsession is unbecoming. ⁦@TODAYshow ⁦@GMA all awful" one of them said, while another wrote, "Really Gayle King & Omid Scobie? Even on one the saddest days for the @RoyalFamily you just can’t help yourself can you? Having to talk about 'Family Drama' and 'Meghan.' Please let the mouse go for just 1 day! PLEASE!! #GayleKing #OmidScobie #RoyalFamily #PrincePhilip"

A third wrote, "Not helped by this US gaggle of gossipers who can’t even keep quiet during the funeral." The next commented, "Couldn't they not leave it for one day n let the poor man to b laid to rest in peace" One more wrote, "Meghan’s minions to the rescue! Omid on how Meghan is feeling- "she is grieving because" 'she has also lost a family member'. M Is really trying to milk this funeral."