Oprah Winfrey says Meghan Markle 'does not read' any of the negative press about her
During an appearance on CBS this morning, renowned talk show host Oprah Winfrey praised her new friend Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
According to the 'Queen of Daytime TV', the American actress turned royal princess "is graceful and dynamic in holding that position and 'has a wonderful, warm, giving, loving heart,' Daily Mail reports. She said: "I think she’s being portrayed unfairly. I feel that if people really knew her, they would know that she is not only everything you perceive her as being–graceful and dynamic in holding that position–but that she just has a wonderful warm, giving, funny heart. I see all the crazy press around her, and I think it's really unfair."
Gayle King, hosting, also added, "She's very kind. She doesn't seem to buy into [her bad press] though."
"She actually does not read anything, which I find, you know remarkable," she said. "I think that's remarkable in spite of all that's going on, she doesn't read anything," said Oprah confirming that Markle does not read any of the negative stories in the media about her. She then went on to speak about working with Prince Harry on a new docuseries for Apple about mental health.
As the upcoming series requires her to spend a great deal of time with Prince Harry, Oprah revealed she has been visiting London a lot lately. Speaking of the project, she said, "I asked the question what do you think are the most important issues facing the world right now, and he said there are two. He said climate change and mental wellness, mental fitness, and mental health."
"As you know, he's spoken about his own issues and what he went through after his mother died and how being able to talk about it has benefited him,” Oprah said. "So it's a passion of his and, at the end of the conversation, I said, 'Oh, I'm going to be doing this thing with Apple. It's a big concern of mine too and I want to try to erase the stigma.' And he said at the end of the conversation, 'if there's anything I can do to help'."
It was then that Oprah proposed Harry was brought on board to help build the series.
"He's co-creating and executive producing," she said. "We've had several meetings, secret meetings in London. I've flown there with the crew, sitting in sessions, talking about the directions we're going to take. Our hope is it will have an impact on reducing the stigma and allow people to know that they're not alone and allowing people to speak up for it and identify with it."
The news of the collaboration was broken on Wednesday by the Duke of Sussex himself.
"I am incredibly proud to be working alongside Oprah on this vital series which we have been developing together for several months," Prince Harry stated. "I truly believe that good mental health – mental fitness – is the key to powerful leadership, productive communities, and a purpose-driven self. It is a huge responsibility to get this right as we bring you the facts, the science and the awareness of a subject that is so relevant during these times. Our hope is that this series will be positive, enlightening and inclusive – sharing global stories of unparalleled human spirit fighting back from the darkest places, and the opportunity for us to understand ourselves and those around us better."
Prince Harry has previously worked on mental health projects, having launched Heads Together with his brother and sister-in-law back in 2017. He opened up about his own struggles with mental health on the Mad World podcast the same year.
"I sort of buried my head in the sand for many, many years. I can safely say that losing my mom at the age of 12 and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life, but also my work as well," the prince said.
After decades of struggling to deal with his problems and unwantedly landing in the tabloids, Prince Harry's life eventually turned around when he met his future wife. "I started to have a few conversations and actually all of a sudden, all of this grief that I have never processed started to come to the forefront and I was like, there is actually a lot of stuff here that I need to deal with," he explained.