News of Prince Philip, who died at the age of 99 on Friday, almost immediately saw tributes pouring in from different parts of the world. While the Royal Family and the UK went into mourning, new media started coming up with tributes and reminiscing the life of the Duke of Edinburgh. Social media too became abuzz with the news and in between a claim about Fox & Friendsco-host Brian Kilmeade was shared on social media.
The post claimed that Kilmeade had purportedly connected the death of Prince Philip to Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. According to the claim, Kilmeade apparently blamed Prince Harry and Meghan for Prince Philip's death. Since then, several social media users have been trying o find out about the authenticity of the claim and if Kilmeade had really connected Philip's death with Harry and Meghan's interview.
Kilmeade's Comments
Moments after Prince Philip's death was announced on Friday, a video clip started doing the rounds on Twitter. The video shows Fox & Friends host, Kilmeade talking about Harry and Meghan's interview to Winfrey last month. Kilmeade in the video clip is heard saying: "If you factor in this, there are reports that [Philip] was enraged after the interview and the fallout from the interview with Winfrey. So here he is trying to recover, and then he gets hit with that."
The video soon became viral as thousands started sharing it, with many claiming that Kilmeade directly blamed Harry and Meghan for Philip's death. "meghan is too late in her pregnancy to travel, surely? fox & friends already blamed both of them for the death of....a 99yr old who was certainly sent home for hospice care........," wrote one user.
"A reminder that Brian Kilmeade is a racist POS. What nerve blaming Meghan Markle, who is a woman of color, for the death of #PrincePhilip," wrote another user.
Soon, more people started casting their doubt about the authenticity of the claim and the video went viral.
What's the Truth?
It's true that Kilmeade commented on Prince Philip's death and also spoke about Harry and Meghan's interview and drew a connection. However, he didn't directly blame them accuse them of being responsible for Philip's death. Kilmeade only appeared to suggest that Harry and Meghan's interview with Winfrey somewhat upset Prince Philip in his final weeks.
In fact, Philip was already unwell at that time and had to be admitted to hospital a few days later but Kilmeade did not outright blame Harry and Meghan's interview with Winfrey for the death of Philip, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on June 10, 2021.
Winfrey interview with the couple was announced on February 16 and Prince Philip had to be admitted to the hospital the very next day. This somewhat made many social media users speculate that Kilmeade did actually blame Harry and Meghan for Philip's death.
To put it simple, tweets that claimed Kilmeade blamed Harry and Meghan's interview with Winfrey for the death of Prince Philip on Fox & Friends was nothing but misinterpreted by many that started the rumor.
