I Can Finally Speak for Myself — Meghan Markle

Duchess Meghan Markle is speaking out about the freedom she feels since she and Prince Harry stepped away from the royal family last year.

In a newly-released clip of Meghan and Harry’s highly-anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey, airing this Sunday; Winfrey revealed that she asked Meghan for an interview just before her 2018 wedding to Harry. However, Meghan politely declined, saying it wasn’t the right time.

Meghan responded that they would not have allowed her to have that conversation with Winfrey on her own. She said that other people from the royals’ communications team had to be with her during the call.

In response to Winfrey’s question of “What is right about this time?” for an interview, Meghan responds, “Well, so many things.”

“We’re on the other side of a lot of life experience and also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn’t have said yes to you then. That wasn’t my choice to make,” said Meghan.

“So, as an adult who lived a really independent life, to then go into this construct that is different than what I think people imagine it to be; it’s really liberating to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say yes, I’m ready to talk.”

“To be able to just make a choice on your own and just be able to speak for yourself,” added Meghan; who gave up her acting career when she wed Harry.

Winfrey was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. The couple now lives near her in the Santa Barbara area of California.

Their two-hour, primetime interview, airing Sunday on CBS, has put Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, back in the glare of the public spotlight.