© Handout/Getty Images/New York Daily News/TNSOprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in a CBS primetime special.
British royals, meet the Queen of All Media.
Days of anticipation and hand-wringing speculation finally met their crescendo Sunday night as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on CBS.
The conversation began with Markle confirming she wasn't paid to do the interview and that no questions were off limit. Early on, Markle admitted she didn't research what joining the royal family might be like ahead of her wedding.
"I will say I went into it naively, because I didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family," Markle told Winfrey. "It wasn't something that was part of conversation at home. It wasn't something that we followed."
She also recalled the first time she met Queen Elizabeth II, and was surprised when Harry told her she'd be expected to curtsy upon greeting his grandmother.
"I didn't think that's what happens inside," Markle told Winfrey. "I said, 'But it's your grandmother.' He said, 'It's the Queen.' That was really the first moment that the penny dropped."
Viewers and royal watchers tuned in to see what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said about the queen and other members of the royal family nearly one year after the couple stepped away from their senior roles in the United Kingdom and moved to California.
"I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that the (family) is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us," Markle said.
The primetime special, which began at 8 p.m. EDT, aired days after a report was published by British newspaper The Times stating a former advisor had made a bullying complaint against Markle while she was still at Kensington Palace.
That allegation asserted Markle, 39, had driven two aides from the home.
Buckingham Palace has since said it will investigate the accusation, while a representative for Markle responded in a statement to People.
"The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma," the statement reads.
"She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good."
The queen was not planning to watch Harry and Markle's interview with Winfrey, The Sunday Times reported.
Markle, who rose to fame as an actress on "Suits," married Harry in 2018. They welcomed their son, Archie, the following year, with the couple announcing last month that they're expecting their second child.
Winfrey revealed during her conversation with the royals that she had reached out to Markle in hopes of scheduling an interview ahead of their wedding, but was rejected.
"We're on the other side of a lot of, a lot of life experience that's happened," Markle told the TV host during the new interview. "And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn't have said yes to you then, that wasn't my choice to make."
She added, "As an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is, um, different than I think what people imagine it to be."
Markle and Harry officially left their roles as senior royals last March 31.
Speaking with Winfrey, Harry - who is sixth in line to the throne - expressed concern of "history repeating itself." His mother, Princess Diana, was the subject of intense media scrutiny ahead of her death in 1997 in a car crash.
"I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side," Harry told Winfrey. "Because I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for (Diana), going through this process by herself all those years ago.
"It has been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we had each other."
Sunday's interview aired hours after Queen Elizabeth, 94, gave a speech for Commonwealth Day.