Oprah Winfrey praised her new friend Meghan Markle on Wednesday during an appearance on CBS This Morning.
The Queen of Daytime TV said that the American princess ‘is not only everything that we perceive of her as being – graceful and dynamic in holding that position – but she just has a wonderful, warm, giving, loving heart.’
Host Gayle King, who is also a new friend of Markle and attended her baby shower in New York City last month, jumped in to add: ‘She’s very kind. She doesn’t seem to buy into [her bad press] though.’
Oprah then revealed that Markle does not read any of her press, before going on to speak about working with Prince Harry on a new docuseries for Apple about mental health.
‘She actually does not read anything, which I find, you know remarkable,’ said Oprah.
‘I think that’s remarkable in spite of all that’s going on, she doesn’t read anything.’
Oprah said that she has been spending a great deal of time in London recently as she works with Prince Harry on their new series.
Speaking about how it came together, 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…”‘
That is when Oprah said she pitched the idea of Harry coming on to help build the series, and the TV titan said he has been incredibly involved in the project ever since.
‘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 Duke of Sussex was the one to break the news of the collaboration on Wednesday.
‘I am incredibly proud to be working alongside Oprah on this vital series which we have been developing together for several months,’ stated Prince Harry.
‘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.’
There are reportedly plans for Harry to ‘appear on camera’, though it hasn’t been decided whether he will be interviewed by the chat show host.
This is not Prince Harry’s first foray into raising awareness for mental health, having previously launched Heads Together in 2017, a mental health initiative spearheaded by The Royal Foundation, which worked on alongside his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton.
That same year her spoke about his own struggles with mental health on the Mad World podcast.
‘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,’ revealed Harry.
Harry added that it took decades for him to deal with it, but after a string of incidents that landed him in the tabloids, he finally managed to do just that, a move that eventually led him to meet his now-wife Meghan.
‘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.
Prince Harry said that his brother was a big help, as were his tours in Afghanistan and work on a number of charitable endeavors.
‘I do feel in a good place, because of the process that I’ve been through over the last two and a half years, three years, I’ve now been able to take my work seriously, been able to take my private life seriously as well,’ he explained on the podcast.
‘And be able to put blood, sweat, and tears into the things that really make a difference. The things that I think will make a difference to everybody else.’
Although Oprah has never confirmed how she and Meghan first became friends, she appears to have grown incredibly close to the royal couple, and was even a guest at their wedding in May.
The TV legend even formed a close friendship with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
In April 2018, just weeks before the royal wedding, Oprah and Doria, 62, spent the afternoon together at Oprah’s $88 million ‘Promised Land’ mansion in Santa Barbara bonding, doing yoga, and eating kumquats from her garden.
Oprah later shared that the pair had eaten a meal together and snacked on a dessert made from kumquats freshly picked from Oprah’s garden.
‘She said, “I love kumquats,” and I said, “I have a kumquat tree!”‘ Oprah detailed in June 2018, while promoting a new TV series.
However, despite Oprah’s relationship with Meghan, the royal, who is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in the coming weeks, is not thought to be involved in the Apple documentary project.
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