Oprah's failed attempts to secure Princess Diana interview revealed

Oprah Winfrey failed to secure an interview with the late Princess Diana, despite her efforts. 

• Oprah had reportedly desperately tried to secure an interview with Princess Diana in the mid-1990s.
• The legendary chat show host even proposed ideas to Princess Diana over lunch at Kensington Palace. 
• In other royal news, the Queen’s TV special is set to air the same day as Harry and Meghan’s ‘tell-all’ interview.
  

Oprah Winfrey may be the queen of chat shows, but that still doesn’t grant her guaranteed royal access.

The TV veteran, who successfully scored a tell-all interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following their controversial royal departure last week, hasn’t always had such luck with members of the British monarchy. In the mid-90s, Oprah had desperately tried to secure an interview with the late Princess Diana, only to lose out on the opportunity to UK broadcaster, Martin Bashir. 

The media maven reportedly had gone to great measures to convince the royal icon to appear on her highly-rated TV program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which had already hosted a litany of A-list guests since its commencement in 1986. 

Oprah even personally met with Princess Diana at Kensington Palace, where she attempted to persuade her to accept an interview proposal over lunch. According to Diana’s former chef, Darren McGrady, the two chatted amicably over his specially-prepared tomato mousses but said goodbye without any agreement to an interview. 

The rejection proved to be a major blow for Oprah, who had reportedly mentioned that interviewing Diana would be the 'highlight of her career’. 

According to media consultant Jonathon Gabay, landing an exclusive with Meghan and Harry has given Oprah a second chance to pull off a bombshell royal interview. 

“Oprah missed an opportunity with Di that she clearly wants to get right with Meghan and Harry,” he said. 

Despite the controversy surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan’s departure from the royal family, critics predict that Oprah will take an empathetic approach towards the couple during the interview. 

Meghan is known to get on well with Oprah, having been introduced to her in 2018 by the chat show star's best friend, CBS host Gayle King. Oprah was even invited to the couple’s royal wedding and now lives just a short distance from their $14.7million mansion in Santa Barbara county.