Will Harry and Meghan dish new royal dirt in CBS interview?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear to be gearing up for some new media blitz, with announcements Thursday that they’re embarking on an unofficial “royal tour” to Colombia and “CBS Sunday Morning” revealing that the couple have filmed a sit-down interview with Jane Pauley that will air this weekend.

The Colombia visit was announced by that country’s vice president, Francia Márquez, who said the couple had accepted her invitation to visit their country, where they will “engage with leaders, youth and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress,” Newsweek reported. Dates for the trip have not been announced, but it would follow their successful trip to Nigeria in May.

The CBS chat would be the first time the California-based couple have participated in a joint interview since their blockbuster sessions in 2021 with Oprah Winfrey and in their 2022 Netflix documentary series. In these interviews, taking place after they stepped away from royal duties in 2020, they fomented a three-year media firestorm in which they shared sensational revelations about the British royal family, alleging forms of racism, cruelty and dysfunction and amplifying critiques of certain members in particular.

But a brief clip of Harry and Meghan’s interview with Pauley, posted on social media, suggests that the California-based couple may steer clear of talking about Harry’s relatives, from whom they have become notoriously estranged. Indeed, a People magazine report this week said that King Charles III has stopped taking his son’s phone calls. For the American and U.K. public, Harry and Meghan’s revelations also have become increasingly polarizing, as evidenced by the controversy that followed Harry, as he received an award at the ESPYs named in honor of American war hero Pat Tillman.

From the clip, the CBS Sunday interview appears to focus on yet another new initiative that the Duke and Duchess are trying out with their Archewell Foundation, this one centering around children and social media, Page Six reported. In the clip, the couple speak about how parents need to protect their children from online harm, reflecting on their own experiences as parents of Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.

“‘Our kids are young, they’re three and five, they’re amazing, but all you want to do as parents is protect them,” Megan said. “And so as we can see what’s happening in the online space, we know that there’s a lot of work to be done there and we’re just happy to be able to be a part of change for good.”

Harry added: “At this point we’ve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder. And even the best first responders in the world wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this.”

Last October, the couple headlined a Project Healthy Minds festival in New York City, during which they discussed the harmful effects that social media can have on young people’s mental health.

This “CBS Sunday” interview and news about the Colombia trip come in the midst of what could be yet another big media cycle for the couple, who are still trying to gain a foothold as media moguls, entrepreneurs, influential public figures and global thought leaders.

Meghan has been the subject of reports about finishing filming on a new cooking series for Netflix, which was part of her and Harry’s five-year, $100 million deal with the platform. Harry also is supposed to be working on a show of his own about professional polo. Meghan, moreover, has announced plans to sell luxury home and lifestyle goods, via her new American Riviera Orchard brand. However, no launch dates have been announced for the cooking and polo shows or Meghan’s lifestyle band.

Still, the couple have kept themselves in the news lately. After the ESPYs controversy, Harry garnered more global headlines by giving an interview to British TV about his high-profile legal battle against the U.K. tabloids for their past phone-hacking and other illegal practices.

However, the once popular British duke sparked new criticism when he touched on his broken relationship with his family in the documentary, “Tabloids on Trial.” He said that his determination to crusade against the tabloids was the “central piece” in his rift with his father, his brother, Prince William, and his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. In various online forums, people blasted Harry for blaming the rift on his court battles, instead of taking responsibility for his choice to “talk incessantly about his family on a global level.”

As part of Harry and Meghan’s new media cycle, the duke also is the cover star for this week’s People magazine, with a lengthy story that focuses on his other legal fight: to get the British government to give him armed police protection when he visits the U.K. with his wife and family.  Harry wasn’t interviewed for the story, but “sources” close to him were, suggesting that he or his P.R. team sanctioned the story.

The story allows Harry to put forth argument that his estrangement with his family also stems from the fact that he can’t get the police protection he automatically enjoyed when he and Meghan were working members of the royal family. The Harry sources say he doesn’t feel safe bringing his wife and children, Archie and Lilibet, to visit the U.K. and is frustrated that his father, as king, won’t help.