William and Kate FaceTime paramedic's dad in Bangladesh on visit to ambulance station as they carry on royal duties amid claims prince is 'deeply distressed' his private conversations with Harry and Meghan could be 'plastered over US TV'
- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have visited ambulance staff and paramedics in east London today
- Comes amid escalating tensions in the wake of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell Oprah interview
- Prince William said to be 'concerned' that private conversations with his brother 'will be plastered over US TV'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited ambulance staff and Facetimed a paramedic's family today, amid the ongoing fallout in the wake of Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview.
William and Kate spoke to crews at Newham Ambulance Station to hear how they coped mentally during the pandemic before meeting paramedic Jahrin Khan, who asked the couple if it was okay to Facetime her father Abu, in Bangladesh.
William had an animated chat with Mr Khan and told him, 'You must be very proud of your daughter.'
Jahrin, who has been with the London Ambulance Service for more than four years, lives in the Capital with her family. She stayed in temporary accommodation during the first wave of Covid to protect her mother, who has asthma.
The 29-year-old has not seen her father for more than a year, after he travelled to Bangladesh before the pandemic but was then stuck when lockdown restrictions came into force, and unable to return safely.
The visit comes amid reports William is 'deeply distressed' that private conversations with his brother will be 'plastered over American TV' after broadcaster Gayle King revealed William had taken part in an 'unproductive phone call with Prince Harry'.
The revelation - which the CBS presenter delivered live on air - has reportedly made William wary of engaging further with the couple, fearing that any talks with his brother will be leaked to American television networks.
Sources told Vanity Fair there was concern within the family that the Sussexes 'want to keep fuelling the soap opera'.
This also comes as a royal author claims William is supporting his wife after Meghan Markle claimed the two women had a tearful confrontation days before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's 2018 wedding.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge talk with the family of paramedic Jahrin (Jay) Khan via a mobile phone. The family is in London but her father joined the conversation from Bangladesh. Ms Khan has been unable to see her family through the pandemic
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today visited Newham Ambulance Station in East London
During the visit, The Duke and Duchess met with ambulance staff and paramedics to hear more about their experiences of working during the pandemic
William and Kate spoke to crews at Newham Ambulance Station about their experiences of working during one of the most challenging periods in the London Ambulance Service's history
A royal author has claimed that William is supporting his wife Kate Middleton after Meghan Markle claimed the two women had a tearful confrontation. Pictured, Kate during today's visitThe couple spoke to staff today about the problems they faced during one of the most challenging periods in the London Ambulance Service's history.
Chatting to paramedic Jay Khan's father Abu, who was forced to stay in Bangladesh during the lockdown after his mother fell ill, William asked him: 'You must be very proud of your daughter.'
Abu replied: 'Yes we are all very proud of her.'
The royals also joined a call with Jay's sister Nasrin and granddad Baharam in the UK. William told them: 'She works very hard and she's looking forward to seeing you soon.'
Kate added: 'Hopefully it won't be too long before you can all meet up and see each other again.'
The couple laughed as Jay told her family: 'Say bye now. Let them go.'
William quipped: 'We can stay here and do some more family chatting if that works?'
They also met paramedic Shani Smith who has been helping to run one of the special tea trucks to serve medics over the past year, and heard how she has used her mental health training to provide peer support to her colleagues.
Shani, who has worked for the service for more than 20 years, said this was the worst time she had ever experienced, adding: 'It's been like one long major incident.'
The duchess was wearing a long camel-coloured double breasted coat with colour-coordinated floral face mask, while the duke was in a navy face mask and matching overcoat.
The visit comes a week and a half after the monarchy was plunged into crisis by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Oprah interview.
Meghan accused the royal family of racism, but also said the institution failed to help her when she had suicidal thoughts.
Mental health has been at the forefront of William and Kate's royal duties for a number of years, with the couple launching the Heads Together initiative with Harry.
But Harry told Oprah Winfrey he was ashamed of admitting to his family that his wife needed help, adding: 'That's just not a conversation that would be had.'
Kate is said to have found it 'mortifying' that allegations over her alleged row with Meghan Markle re-emerged two years ago after first being reported in 2018.
Royal biographer Penny Junor told People: 'For Meghan to name Kate in a negative light is worse [for Prince William] than being attacked himself.'
She added: 'William is very protective of Kate and can get very angry.'
And royal expert Katie Nicholl told OK! magazine: 'Kate has never wanted any suggestion of a rift with Meghan to come out in the press, so for this story to be circulating is very hard.'
Earlier this week Gayle King revealed Harry, 36, had spoken to William, 38, and their father Prince Charles for the first time following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Despite the Sussexes insisting their explosive tell-all would be their 'final word' on royal affairs, Ms King, 66, said the couple had told her about Harry's phone calls with his family over the weekend.
Yesterday she spoke out again, claiming the pair had a deal with CBS and ITV to postpone their bombshell interview if Prince Philip, 99, had died during his month-long stay in hospital.
One source close to Prince William claimed: 'There's a lack of trust on both sides which makes moving forward very hard. William is now worried that anything he says to his brother will be plastered over American TV.'
And sources told Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl: 'It seems the Sussexes seem to want to keep fuelling this story at a time when the royals are trying to protect Prince Philip from the headlines.'
The source added that Meghan and Harry's approach seemed to be a 'very strange way' to heal the rift within the family.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that William was 'deeply distressed with Harry and Meghan's decision to share private family conversations' with King.
What did Gayle King say on her SiriusXM show?
On Prince Philip:
'Well, just so you know, they had done that interview before Prince Phillip went into the hospital.
'And if something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time. But the interview was done and was scheduled before he went into the hospital. But a lot of people have raised that point.'
On why Harry and Meghan did the Oprah interview:
'I think that Harry and Meghan both have been through so much for the past three years and they really have tried to work it out privately. They really have tried to get help, and nothing was working.
'So I think they wanted people to have some understanding about why they made the decision that they made and what they've been going through, and I do think that they accomplished that. I do. I think it was very brave of her and Harry to reveal what they did.
'It's unheard of, and it certainly has been a 'bombshell', is the word. There were six or seven that night. I stopped counting at six. It was bombshell, after bombshell, after bombshell, but I do believe it was an honest conversation. I'm hoping it will lead to change.'
On Piers Morgan and Alex Beresford:
'Piers Morgan is no longer with a job. He stormed off the air after saying that I don't believe that she had mental illness, I don't believe she was suicidal. They got over 41,000 calls of people weighing in to say that is not OK, that is not cool. And by the next day, he was out of a job. He said he resigned. I find that a little hard to believe when you had 41,000 calls.'
'And kudos to his co-anchor, they said it was the weather guy. I wonder if he was the weather guy, but they described him as a weather guy, who spoke out and really let Piers have it on the air, and then Piers stormed off, and now Piers is no longer on the air there.'
William and Kate also heard more about the mental health and wellbeing support provided to staff at the station, including drop-in sessions and the wellbeing spaces
The duchess was wearing a long camel-coloured double breasted coat with colour-coordinated floral face mask, while the duke was in a navy face mask and matching overcoat
Jahrin asked the couple if it was okay to call her father Abu, before Face-timing him in Bangladesh. William had an animated chat with Mr Khan and told him, 'You must be very proud of your daughter.'
The pair happily smiled and waved at Ms Khan's family, much to the paramedic's delight
Over the last year, William and Kate and The Royal Foundation have worked to support those on the frontline of the pandemic.
William and Kate heard more about the mental health and wellbeing support provided to staff at the Station,including drop-in sessions and wellbeing spaces, alongside some of the wider initiatives provided by the London Ambulance Service including their fleet of Wellbeing Tea Trucks
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were seen being driven in central London this morningOn Tuesday, Ms King told her viewers that she spoke to the Sussexes who told her that Harry had talked to the Duke of Cambridge and Prince of Wales over the weekend.
But she said the conversations were 'not productive' and Harry and Meghan were keen for the 'royals to intervene and tell the Press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant'.
Ms King, 66, who is also close friends with Oprah, failed to give any examples of the stories she was referring to, but added that Meghan has 'documents to back up everything that she said on Oprah's interview'.
The broadcaster's comments came on the same day that Harry's grandfather Prince Philip, 99, was reunited with the Queen at Windsor Castle after leaving King Edward VII's Hospital in London following a 28 day-stay for treatment.
Ms King revealed on her radio show on US network SiriusXM: 'Well, just so you know, they had done that interview before Prince Phillip went into the hospital.
'If something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time. But the interview was done and was scheduled before he went into the hospital. But a lot of people have raised that point.
'I think that Harry and Meghan both have been through so much for the past three years and they really have tried to work it out privately. They really have tried to get help, and nothing was working.'
'So I think they wanted people to have some understanding about why they made the decision that they made and what they've been going through, and I do think that they accomplished that. I do.
'I think it was very brave of her and Harry to reveal what they did. It's unheard of, and it certainly has been a 'bombshell', is the word.
'There were six or seven that night. I stopped counting at six. It was bombshell, after bombshell, after bombshell, but I do believe it was an honest conversation. I'm hoping it will lead to change.'
The fact the Sussexes chose to reveal sensitive discussions between senior members of the Royal Family met with an icy response from Buckingham Palace.
'None of the households [the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge] will be giving a running commentary on private conversations,' said a senior royal source.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, showcased her love for literal dressing yesterday as she donned a £260 shamrock charm necklace to wish the people of Ireland a happy St Patrick's Day
Prince William, when he was questioned by a TV reporter on a public engagement last Thursday, said he had not yet spoken to his younger brother, but vowed he would.
He also insisted the Royal Family were not racists after Meghan suggested there was an attempt to deprive Archie of a title and security because he was of mixed race.
The Queen responded to the Oprah interview with a deeply personal message and emphasised that from now on the difficulties would be addressed by the family privately.
The bombshell revelations from Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey
During the couple's tell-all (pictured), Meghan addressed reports that she made her sister-in-law cry over a disagreement regarding bridesmaid dresses ahead of the royal wedding, while the couple also revealed they were having a baby girl
- Meghan's mental health
The Duchess of Sussex revealed she had suicidal thoughts and said: 'I just didn't want to be alive any more.'
She said she begged for help, and asked to go somewhere to get help, and approached one of the most senior people in the institution, but was told it would not look good.
The duchess said: 'I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that I've never felt this way before and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution.'
- Baby Sussex is a girl
Harry and Meghan revealed they are expecting a baby girl. The duke joined his wife in the second half of the interview, and told the chat show host: 'It's a girl.'
He said his first thought was 'amazing' when he discovered they were having a girl, adding: 'Just grateful. To have any child, any one or any two, would have been amazing.
'But to have a boy and then a girl, I mean what more can you ask for? Now we've got our family, we got the four of us and our two dogs.'
Asked if they were 'done' with two children, Harry said 'done' and Meghan said: 'Two is it.'
She also confirmed the baby is due in the 'summertime'.
- Royal family accused of racism
Meghan said, when she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised 'concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born'.
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be 'too brown' and that would be a problem, Meghan said: 'If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.'
Pushed by Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: 'I think that would be very damaging to them.'
She added: 'That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him, and I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations.'
- Archie's title
Meghan suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected.
The duchess expressed her shock at 'the idea of our son not being safe', and the idea of the first member of colour in this family, not being titled in the same way as other grandchildren.
Archie, who is seventh in line to the throne, is not entitled to be an HRH or a prince due to rules set out more than 100 years ago by King George V.
He will be entitled to be an HRH or a prince when the Prince of Wales accedes to the throne.
As the first born son of a duke, Archie could have become Earl of Dumbarton - one of Harry's subsidiary titles - or have been Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, instead at the time of his birth, a royal source said Harry and Meghan had decided he should a regular Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
- The Prince of Wales
The Duke of Sussex said his father the Prince of Wales stopped taking his calls while Harry and Meghan were in Canada 'because I took matters into my own hands. I needed to do this for my family'. He said Charles wanted him to put his plans in writing.
- The Queen
Harry denied that he had 'blindsided' his grandmother Queen with the bombshell statement about stepping down as senior royal.
The duke said he believed the report probably could have come from 'within the institution'.
- The Duchess of Cambridge
Meghan said Kate made her cry ahead of her wedding. Reports circulated ahead of the Sussexes' nuptials that Meghan left Kate in tears at Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress fitting.
But Meghan told Winfrey the 'reverse happened'.
Meghan said she was not sharing the information to be 'disparaging', but added it was 'really important for people to understand the truth'.
'She's a good person,' the duchess added.
Piers Morgan says Gayle King should stop 'acting as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's PR mouthpiece' and ask them about their 'lies' on Oprah
Piers Morgan has slammed American broadcaster Gayle King for acting as a 'PR mouthpiece' for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to 'facilitate their ongoing public trashing of our Royal Family'.
The former Good Morning Britain host told the CBS This Morning presenter last night to do her 'job as a journalist and ask them about all the lies they told' in their interview with Oprah Winfrey after it aired on March 7.
Morgan, 55, who quit GMB last Tuesday after claiming he didn't 'believe a word' Meghan Markle said during the conversation with the US chat show queen, added in a tweet last night: 'America should hear THE truth.'
It comes after Miss King, 66, backed ITV's stance over Morgan's departure from GMB after he refused to apologise for his comments about Meghan, which led to the highest number of complaints in TV regulator Ofcom's history.
She told her SiriusXM radio programme last Thursday: 'Piers Morgan is no longer with a job. He stormed off the air after saying that I don't believe that she had mental illness, I don't believe she was suicidal.
'They got over 41,000 calls of people weighing in to say that is not OK, that is not cool. And by the next day, he was out of a job. He said he resigned. I find that a little hard to believe when you had 41,000 calls.'
Morgan criticised Miss King in a tweet last night, in which he accused her of 'acting as your Sussex friends' PR mouthpiece'
Miss King also referred to GMB weather presenter Alex Beresford, who was involved in the moment that saw Morgan walk out last week. She said: 'And kudos to his co-anchor, they said it was the weather guy.
'I wonder if he was the weather guy, but they described him as a weather guy, who spoke out and really let Piers have it on the air, and then Piers stormed off, and now Piers is no longer on the air there.'
More than 250,000 people have now signed three separate Change.org petitions demanding that Morgan - who also presented a show on CNN in the US from 2011 to 2014 - should be brought back to GMB.
During the same SiriusXM show last Thursday, Miss King, who is friends with both Meghan and Oprah, claimed the Sussexes had a deal with CBS and ITV to postpone their 'bombshell' interview if Prince Philip had died.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in conversation with Oprah Winfrey in an interview first aired on CBS on March 7
ITV's Good Morning Britain has lost nearly a third of its viewers since Piers Morgan left on Tuesday last week
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