Why ITV has removed newspaper headlines from Oprah's interview with Harry and Meghan

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all interview with Oprah was watched by millions across the globe. During the CBS special, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed that they are expecting a baby girl in the summer and told the host that they are 'thriving' since leaving the UK last year.

The couple also opened up about the difficulties they faced following their wedding in 2018, with Meghan bravely talking about her mental health struggles and Harry talking about his mother, the late Princess Diana, discussing his fears that 'history would repeat itself'.

The Sussexes, who moved to California shortly after the seemingly sudden announcement that they were stepping away from royal life, also told the host that they were subjected to an onslaught of negative headlines from the British tabloids, stating that they believe the coverage was driven by racism.

During the segment, viewers saw a number of newspaper headlines, some of which compared Meghan to other members of the royal family, notably Kate Middleton. Responding to claims that the Duchess of Cambridge also faced criticism from the press, Meghan said: 'If members of his family say, "Well, this is what happened to all of us," or if they can compare what the experience that I went through was similar to what has been shared with us—Kate was called 'Waity Katie' waiting to marry William.

'While I imagine that was really hard, and I do, I can’t picture what that felt like. This is not the same. And if a member of this family will comfortably say, "We’ve all had to deal with things that are rude." Rude and racist are not the same.'

However, complaints from Associated Newspapers - who publish The Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and MailOnline - were made to CBS and consequently ITV, who aired the interview in the UK, have edited the interview after claims that the headlines shown were 'misleading'.

Liz Hartley, the editorial legal director at Associated Newspapers, said: 'Many of the headlines have been either taken out of context or deliberately edited and displayed as supporting evidence for the programme's claim that the Duchess of Sussex was subjected to racist coverage by the British press.

'This editing was not made apparent to viewers and, as a result, this section of the programme is both seriously inaccurate and misleading.'

It included snippets from the Mail on Sunday and The Telegraph, who claim that the headlines weren't shown in full and had been edited, leading ITV to edit the footage which is currently available on the ITV Hub. ITV confirmed that three Daily Mail, MailOnline and Mail on Sunday headlines will be removed.

Oprah's company Harpo Productions reacted to the news, saying: 'We stand by the broadcast in its entirety.'