After claiming ‘several members of the Royal Family’ reached out to him in the wake of his criticism of Meghan Markle, Piers Morgan has said he also received a text from Sarah Ferguson following his departure from Good Morning Britain.
Following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey last month Piers hit out at the pair and said he ‘didn’t believe’ anything Meghan had said, after she raised claims of racism as well as saying she felt suicidal during her time in the UK.
Piers’s comments on Good Morning Britain received more than 41,000 complaints in the days following, and he stormed off set following a heated row with colleague Alex Beresford, before tendering his resignation.
Speaking about the support he’s received from people in the public eye following his resignation, Piers said he did receive a text from the Duchess of York.
‘Not all Royal duchesses were as thrilled as Meghan “Pinocchio” Markle to see me leave GMB,’ he wrote in his Daily Mail column on Sunday.
‘”People have said how much they miss your morning joy and humour,” texted Sarah, Duchess of York, “get back out there!”‘
He added of the duchess, who is a long-standing friend of Piers: ‘Perhaps we should start a new breakfast show together… “Morgy and Fergie in the Morning”, anyone?’
The former tabloid editor previously claimed he’d received correspondence from members of the Royal Family for ‘standing up’.
He said during an appearance on Extra: ‘I’ve had some messages communicated to me on behalf of several members of the Royal Family.’
Asked by host Billy Bush if the support came from ‘upper-level people,’ Piers replied: ‘I’m not going to go into who it was. But what I would say is, gratitude that somebody was standing up.’
The Life Stories host left GMB, the ITV show he fronted alongside Susanna Reid, last month after refusing to apologise for his criticism of the former royal following her Oprah tell-all.
A statement from the broadcaster read at the time: ‘Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.’
According to the Guardian and the Telegraph, his departure came after a formal complaint was lodged with ITV on behalf of the duchess after the broadcast, while The Telegraph said that a spokesperson for ITV ‘refused to deny’ the reports.
The PA news agency understands that Meghan’s concern was not about the personal attacks on the validity of her racism allegation made against the Royal Family, or her claims she was not supported by the institution when experiencing suicidal thoughts.
The complaint is understood to focus on how Morgan’s comments may affect the issue of mental health generally and those attempting to deal with their own problems.
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