BritainB次元官网网址檚 royal family and television have a complicated relationship.

The medium has helped define the modern monarchy: The 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was BritainB次元官网网址檚 first mass TV spectacle. Since then, rare interviews have given a glimpse behind palace curtains at the all-too-human family within. The fictionalized take of Netflix hit B次元官网网址淭he CrownB次元官网网址� has moulded views of the monarchy for a new generation, though in ways the powerful, image-conscious royal family canB次元官网网址檛 control.

B次元官网网址淭he story of the royal family is a constructed narrative, just like any other story,B次元官网网址� said Phil Harrison, author of B次元官网网址淭he Age of Static: How TV Explains Modern Britain.B次元官网网址�

And itB次元官网网址檚 a story that has changed as Britain moved from an age of deference to an era of modern social mores and ubiquitous social media.

B次元官网网址淭he royals, particularly the younger royals, have moved from the realm of state apparatus to the realm of celebrity culture in recent decades,B次元官网网址� Harrison said. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 worked well for them up to a point B次元官网网址� but celebrity culture takes as well as gives and is notoriously fickle.B次元官网网址�

So anticipation and apprehension are both high ahead of Oprah WinfreyB次元官网网址檚 interview with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan B次元官网网址� the Duke and Duchess of Sussex B次元官网网址� a year after they walked away from official royal life, citing what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media toward the duchess, who is biracial. A clip released by CBS ahead of SundayB次元官网网址檚 broadcast shows Meghan, a former TV star, appearing to suggest the royal family was B次元官网网址減erpetuating falsehoodsB次元官网网址� about her and Harry.

A look at some other major royal television moments, and their impact:

PRINCESS DIANA

The 1981 wedding of 32-year-old Prince Charles and 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer at St. PaulB次元官网网址檚 Cathedral was a fairy-tale spectacle watched by an estimated 750 million people around the world.

But the relationship soon soured. The couple separated in 1992, and in 1995 Diana gave a candid interview to the BBCB次元官网网址檚 Martin Bashir, discussing the pressure of media scrutiny and the breakdown of her marriage.

B次元官网网址淭here were three of us in that marriage,B次元官网网址� Diana said, referring to CharlesB次元官网网址� relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles.

The interview prompted a wave of sympathy for Diana, seen by many as a woman failed by an uncaring, out-of-touch royal establishment B次元官网网址� a pattern some say has repeated itself with Meghan.

Charles and Diana divorced in 1996; Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris the following year, triggering intense public mourning and a period of reflection for the monarchy, which has since tried to appear more modern and relatable B次元官网网址� with mixed results.

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PRINCE ANDREW

The biggest scandal to engulf the family in decades stems from the friendship between the queenB次元官网网址檚 second son, Andrew, and wealthy convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

One woman who says she was a victim of Epstein alleges she had sex with Andrew when she was 17, a claim the prince denies.

The prince tried to undo the damage by giving an interview to the BBCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址nightB次元官网网址� program in November 2019. It backfired spectacularly. Andrew appeared uncomfortable and evasive, and failed to convey empathy for those who say they were exploited by Epstein, even as he defended his friendship with the man.

He called EpsteinB次元官网网址檚 behaviour B次元官网网址渦nbecoming,B次元官网网址� a term interviewer Emily Maitlis suggested was an understatement.

Charlie Proctor, editor of the Royal Central website, said at the time that the interview was B次元官网网址渁 plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion-level bad.B次元官网网址�

After the interview, Andrew announced he was B次元官网网址渟tepping backB次元官网网址� from public duties. He has not returned.

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SARAH, DUCHESS OF YORK

Like Diana before her and Meghan since, Sarah Ferguson was a young woman who had a bruising collision with the royal family.

She was initially welcomed as a breath of fresh air for the stuffy royals when she wed Prince Andrew in 1986. But she quickly became a tabloid target, dubbed B次元官网网址淔reeloading FergieB次元官网网址� for allegedly scooping up freebies and spending more time vacationing than performing public duties.

Some saw snobbery in coverage of a woman who, before and after her marriage, worked for a living and was open about her problems with weight, relationships and money.

After her 1996 divorce, the duchess used television to speak out B次元官网网址� frequently. She appeared on WinfreyB次元官网网址檚 show in 1996, saying palace life was B次元官网网址渘ot a fairy tale.B次元官网网址� She spoke to Winfrey again in 2010 after being caught on video offering access to her ex-husband for $724,000. The duchess said she had been drinking and was trying to help a friend who needed money. The following year she appeared in her own reality show, B次元官网网址淔inding Sarah,B次元官网网址� on WinfreyB次元官网网址檚 OWN network.

The duchess was not invited to the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, in what was widely seen as a royal snub.

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B次元官网网址淭HE CROWNB次元官网网址�

It may be fiction, but NetflixB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he CrownB次元官网网址� is the most influential depiction of the royals in years. Over four seasons that have covered ElizabethB次元官网网址檚 reign up to the 1980s, its portrait of a dutiful queen, prickly Prince Philip, oversensitive Prince Charles and the rest of the clan has brought the royal soap opera to a new generation.

It is widely seen as helping the royals by humanizing them, though British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden suggested it should come with a warning that itB次元官网网址檚 drama, not history.

Prince Harry has defended the show B次元官网网址� while underscoring that itB次元官网网址檚 fiction B次元官网网址� telling TV host James Corden that he was B次元官网网址渨ay more comfortable with B次元官网网址楾he CrownB次元官网网址� than I am seeing stories written about my family or my wife.B次元官网网址�

Now Harry and Meghan are getting their chance to tell their story. ItB次元官网网址檚 a high-stakes strategy, especially since the interview is airing as 99-year-old Prince Philip, HarryB次元官网网址檚 grandfather, in a London hospital after a heart procedure B次元官网网址� timing critics have called insensitive.

B次元官网网址淚 think this particular interview, like so many of those interviews, is going to do a great deal more harm to Harry and Meghan than anything to do with the British monarchy,B次元官网网址� said royal historian Hugo Vickers.