Meghan Markle is said to have refused to do a joint interview with Prince Harry while they were still working royals for one major reason, it has been claimed. The couple announced their plans to step down as senior working royals at the start of 2020, with the pair shortly beginning a new life with their son in California.

A royal author has now spoken about why Meghan was reluctant to do a sit-down with Harry as members of the Royal Family because their inteview with Oprah Winfrey – which took place in March 2021 – had already been agreed two years before it aired.

According to author Valentine Low’s book, titled Courtiers, Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah was slated to take place in autumn 2019.

During the run-up to Meghan and Harry’s tour in Africa, which took place in 2019, royal aide Sam Cohen is said to have suggested that Meghan and Harry speak with British journalists.

In his book, Low wrote: “At the same time as preparing for the Africa tour, the team was trying to persuade the couple it would be appropriate to do an interview with the British media.

“Sam Cohen suggested Tom Bradby of ITV, who already had a relationship with Harry, would be a good idea.”

He added: “Meghan in particular was reluctant at first, her attention was focused on the prospect of doing an interview with Oprah Winfrey, which at that point was slated for the autumn of that year [it would eventually go ahead more than a year later, in March 2021].”

Speaking of Meghan, the author shared that the royal – who is celebrating her 44th birthday today – was “distinctly cool” but that the couple later did agree with one condition.

He wrote: “There was one proviso: he and Meghan could not do the interviews together, or be in the same shot. That would go against the deal with Oprah.”

Now having lived in Califoria for the past five years, the couple have since welcomed a daughter named Lilibet.