The March interview Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had with Oprah Winfrey, remains one of the most talked-about moments on television. Therefore, it was impossible for the U.K. National Television Awards not to include it in a montage of key TV moments from the year. The clips were apparently met by boos during the ceremony at London’s O2 Arena. Although the clips were not broadcast on ITV, a source claimed that they were met with boos. The Duke and Duchess Sussex were treated as “villains.”
Trevor McDonald, a journalist introduced the montage. He also included some scenes from Winfrey’s interview. When Harry and Markle were on the screen, they were jeered at and booed. “Immediately, there was audible booing throughout the arena. It was as though they were pantomime villains,” according to one source. Another source claimed that there was laughter.
“When the clip came up of Meghan there were boos from the audience,” The second source, a celebrity who didn’t want to be identified, said that to the Daily Mail. “Some shouted out and there was laughing. There were a few embarrassed faces but sadly Meghan was obviously not too popular on the night.”
The unique name Oprah with Meghan and Harry, which was aired on CBS in the U.S. on March 7, and ITV in the U.K on the next day on March 7. During the interview, Harry and Markle made shocking allegations about the royal family. Markle spoke openly about suicide ideas and claimed the royals were her family “institution”. Her mental health was a major concern. Markle said that Harry’s family was also concerned about Archie’s skin color before he was born. Harry did not say who raised the concern. Winfrey later stated that it was not Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Philip.
Harry and Markle weren’t the only ones who were booed at the National Television Awards. Piers Morgan of the former Good Morning Britain famewas also booed (when a clip was shown). Morgan seemed to enjoy the boos and even tweeted a clip from that ceremony. “Last night’s National Television Awards… Love the boos being drowned out by cheers… [Cristiano] Ronaldo gets the same crowd reactions,” Morgan wrote.
Morgan, who was nominated to Best Presenter, was criticized for his remarks on Markle’s mental health admission. He also said that he didn’t believe anything Markle had told Winfrey. Morgan’s comments were investigated by the U.K. regulator Ofcom. Ofcom discovered that Morgan’s remarks were inappropriate. “potentially harbor and offensive,” Morgan and ITV were found not to have violated U.K. broadcasting laws by his comments, according to investigators.
“While we acknowledged that Mr. Morgan’s questions about the nature of racism had the potential to be highly offensive to some viewers, the conversations about race and racism in this program provided open debate on the issues raised by the interview, “Investigators wrote. “We also considered that the program allowed for an important discussion to be had on the nature and impact of racism. ITV had clearly anticipated that racial issues would be discussed at length as part of the coverage of the interview and had taken steps to ensure context could be provided during the discussions.”