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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

How William and Kate 'can win back US hearts' after Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview

The Prince and Princess of Wales could win America over on their upcoming tour and repair the damage done by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Oprah interview, a leading royal expert believes.

William and Kate plan to visit the US in 10 days' time, a move seen as a chance to improve the monarchy's standing across the Atlantic.

The royals haven't visited America since 2014 when they travelled to New York for a series of engagements.

According to royal editor Roya Nikkhah, the pair still need to win back US hearts following the Sussex's damaging interview to the chat show queen last year.

It is also an opportunity for the couple to elevate monarchy above entertainment news, she said.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview didn't go down well stateside (PA)

Writing in the Sunday Times, she called the tell-all in March 2021 '90 minutes of prime-time royal annihilation' which left the monarchy's reputation 'tarnished'.

The Firm "now has a US problem", Mrs Nikkhah stated - but this could be an opportunity to rebuild relations.

In the Oprah interview, Harry talked about how his brother William was "trapped" in the system, while Meghan claimed Kate made her cry in the lead-up to her wedding.

Meghan and Harry also claimed one royal questioned how dark their son Archie's skin would be before he was born.

One royal expert says William and Kate's US tour could be a chance to improve the royals' image (PA)

When the Prince and Princess of Wales do visit the US, it is unclear if they will meet with the Sussexes, who are based in Santa Barbara, California.

The tour could also bring a shift in royal attitudes, it has also been claimed.

Robert Jobson told The Mirror he thinks William and Kate will "stamp their personalities" on all future tours and "insist on doing it their way" in order to change with the times.

He said: "I have been covering royal tours for more than 30 years. In that time the format has rarely changed.

They could elevate the monarchy above entertainment news, the expert feels (PA)

"Even those undertaken by Princess Diana, the woman who is supposed to have changed the monarchy, followed a set pattern of formal dinners, speeches, walkabouts, hospital and school visits, and glad-handing politicians, some had murky pasts.

"The overseas visits are not organised by the royals themselves, although they have some input, but largely at the behest of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, or in the case of Realms, by the host country themselves.

"If they insist – or at least strongly desire - the royal principal riding in a vintage Landrover at a passing out parade once used by the Queen in bygone colonial times, as happened to William and Kate, nine times out of ten it will happen."

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