Millions of people in the UK tuned in to watch the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday.
According to viewing figures released on Tuesday, an average of 11.3 million watched the two-hour special on ITV in the UK.
The tell-all interview was broadcast in Britain after it was aired by CBS in the US on Sunday.
The interview was more damaging than expected, with key revelations still dominating the headlines more than 24 hours after the US broadcast.
ITV's head of home news, Matt Williams, said a peak of over 12 million people tuned in to watch the UK broadcast, making it the second most-watched TV event of the year in the UK, after Boris Johnson’s January address on new lockdown measures attracted more than 15 million viewers.
An estimated 17.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the programme in the US.
ITV said the broadcast was viewed by “more than half of people watching television across the UK at that time”.
Oprah With Meghan And Harry had an average audience of 11.1 million and a 54% share between 9pm and 11pm. At its peak, it attracted 12.4 million.
"This was ITV's biggest peak audience since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final and the biggest on any channel (outside government, pandemic-related announcements) since the Strictly Come Dancing final on BBC One in December," ITV said.
The Strictly Come Dancing final, won by Bill Bailey last year, attracted an average of 11.6 million viewers and a peak of 13.2 million, according to overnight ratings.
The Panorama interview with Princess Diana, broadcast by the BBC in 1995, had overnight ratings of 21.1 million.
The Prince of Wales’s interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, broadcast on ITV in 1994, in which Charles admitted he had committed adultery, had overnight ratings of 12.7 million.
ITV also said that 2.2 million streamed the Harry and Meghan interview, which made headlines around the world, on ITV Hub.
The interview was a hit among young viewers, with four out of five viewers aged 16 to 34 tuning in, making it the biggest TV audience for overnight viewing for that age group, outside of news programming, since I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! last year, ITV said.
Buckingham Palace has not responded yet to a claim from the duke and duchess that a member of the royal family expressed concern over “how dark” their unborn son’s skin tone would be.
Palace aides reportedly prepared a statement expressing the family’s love and concern for the couple, but it was not signed off by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Times reported that the queen wanted more time to consider her response to the lengthy interview.
In their interview, the couple also spoke about mental health, Prince Harry’s relationship with his family, and press intrusion.
Prince Harry described feeling "really let down" by his father Prince Charles, who had stopped taking his phone calls for a while.
Meghan, who is mixed race, described herself as "naively" unprepared for life in the pressure cooker of the royal family.
But she said she was denied help for a mental health crisis and targeted by lies in an incident involving her sister-in-law. She said her depression was exacerbated by the concern expressed about the skin colour of her unborn son.
"I ... just didn't want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought," she said.
Asked if she had had suicidal thoughts while pregnant with son Archie, the duchess replied: "Yes. This was very, very clear."
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
RESULTS
Women:
55kg brown-black belt: Amal Amjahid (BEL) bt Amanda Monteiro (BRA) via choke
62kg brown-black belt: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Ffion Davies (GBR) via referee’s decision (0-0, 2-2 adv)
70kg brown-black belt: Ana Carolina Vieira (BRA) bt Jessica Swanson (USA), 9-0
90kg brown-black belt: Angelica Galvao (USA) bt Marta Szarecka (POL) 8-2
Men:
62kg black belt: Joao Miyao (BRA) bt Wan Ki-chae (KOR), 7-2
69kg black belt: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Gianni Grippo (USA), 2-2 (1-0 adv)
77kg black belt: Espen Mathiesen (NOR) bt Jake Mackenzie (CAN)
85kg black belt: Isaque Braz (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE), 2-0
94kg black belt: Felipe Pena (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL), 4-0
110kg black belt final: Erberth Santos (BRA) bt Lucio Rodrigues (GBR) via rear naked choke
Juventus v Napoli, Sunday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Match on Bein Sports
Brief scores:
Manchester City 3
Bernardo Silva 16', Sterling 57', Gundogan 79'
Bournemouth 1
Wilson 44'
Man of the match: Leroy Sane (Manchester City)
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
Result
Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')
West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
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2019 ASIA CUP POTS
Pot 1
UAE, Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia
Pot 2
China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Qatar, Thailand
Pot 3
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, India, Vietnam
Pot 4
North Korea, Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Turkmenistan
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
