Queen Elizabeth II orders palace staff to keep silent about Harry and Meghan in 'three-line whip'

Queen Elizabeth II has strictly asked her staff to stop chatting about her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle's recent interview with Oprah Winfrey. A "three-line whip" has been issued to the palace staff to prevent them from discussing the matter publicly.

According to a report in Mail Online, the queen has extended an olive branch to the couple with her gag order, which will help her to "de-toxify" the situation between the Sussexes and the British royal family.

"It is difficult to underestimate how shell-shocked everyone is by what has happened. People are literally reeling from what has happened and some staff would dearly love to publicly rebut some of what has been said about them. But the queen has taken a very measured, sensible approach. She is leading by example. This is a matter for her and the family to deal with," a source said about the whip.

It is understood that the 94-year-old would personally be making a phone call to Harry and Meghan in the coming days in an attempt to resolve the issues. A call was made to the couple before Buckingham Palace released a statement on their interview, but it was done through officials.

The queen believes that a more personal approach would be better in this case. Her last conversation with the couple wouldn't have been long ago, as Meghan revealed in her interview that she had called the queen upon the hospitalisation of Prince Philip.

Though Harry and Meghan only had wonderful things to say about the queen in their interview, they made a number of allegations against Buckingham Palace, including that Meghan was denied proper help when she was feeling suicidal. They also claimed that their son wasn't given a title or offered security due to his mixed-race heritage and an unknown member of the royal family was involved in conversations about his skin colour.

Harry also said that he was "let down" by his father Prince Charles, and is on "different paths" with his brother Prince William. Sources say that the future kings have been left deeply upset by the things said about them in the interview. William is also finding it hard to deal with Meghan's allegations that she was driven to consider suicide due to her treatment in the royal family, since mental health awareness has always been a cause close to his heart.

He is also likely to be understandably protective of his wife, Kate Middleton, who was extensively discussed by Meghan and Oprah. Meghan had said in her interview that Kate made her cry during a bridesmaid dress fitting ahead of her wedding, but later apologised and "is a good person." The rest of the conversation around Kate was related to British media's varied coverage of her and Meghan.