Oprah has opened up about her surprise at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as royal family members and relocated to California last year in one of the most talked-about moves in royal history.

Since the 'split' from the royals, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made non-stop headlines, confirming the news that they were expecting their second child, announcing that they would not be returning to royal duties and taking part in an in-depth interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The Duke and Duchess spoke about their move away from the royal family, opening up about the mental health struggles they faced due to press scrutiny, the feelings of isolation that came with being royal and their current relationship with other members of 'The Firm'.

The royal family were said to be upset by the bombshell interview, with Prince Charles reportedly wanting to release a 'step by step response' to the points made.

According to recent reports however, it wasn't just the royals that were surprised by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's candid answers, but also the interviewer herself.

This week, Oprah opened up about interviewing the royal couple and her surprise as the world reacted.

'I had no idea that it would have the reverberating impact that it has had and continues to have,' Oprah explained during the launch of The Nancy O'Dell channel while promoting her book, What Happened To You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing.

'I did a lot of preparation for that. It was really important to me that what we put out there in the world was put out into the world at the time that everybody could see it and that things didn't leak and things weren't misconstrued before the actual interview happened.'

She continued: 'I remember when we finished doing the interview, and that interview was 3 hours and 20 minutes I think, I stood up and said to the crew, "We all know what was said here and how important it is to have a trust to the people who just shared that so I'm hoping you all will not go out into the world and share what has happened here." And nobody did. So as we were releasing clips to CBS, we were releasing them in such a way that whatever was being put out there could not be exploited. So a lot of time and effort and energy went into it on my part.'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not yet responded to Oprah's comments.