Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's Oprah Interview Would Have Been Postponed If Prince Philip Died

KEY POINTS

The airing of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey would have been postponed if Prince Philip had died
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview was done and scheduled before Prince Philip was hospitalized
Prince Philip was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday and has since returned to Windsor Castle

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey would have been moved if Prince Philip passed away, according to a report.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, was hospitalized in the run-up to Prince Harry and Markle's interview with Oprah. According to Gayle King, there was a plan to postpone the airing of the tell-all if Prince Philip had died.

"Just so you know, they had done that interview before Prince Philip went into the hospital," she was quoted by E! News as saying on her SiriusXM show "Gayle King in the House." "And if something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time. But the interview was done and was scheduled before he went into the hospital."

During Markle's interview with Oprah, the duchess told the latter that she had called Queen Elizabeth II to check on Prince Philip.

"This morning, I woke up earlier than H and saw a note from someone from our team in the U.K. saying that the Duke of Edinburgh had gone to the hospital," Markle said. "But I just picked up the phone and I called the Queen, just to check in and call. That's what we do. It's like being able to default to not having to every moment go, 'Is that appropriate?'"

The Queen's husband was hospitalized in February as a precautionary measure on the advice of his doctor. His hospitalization caused concern among Twitter users because at the time, Prince Philip and the words "rest in peace" were trending on the microblogging site.

"I don’t know why but my heart stopped when I saw rest in peace under the article of Prince Philip being taken to hospital," one tweeted.

"When ‘rest in peace’ and Prince Philip being in hospital are trending simultaneously," another wrote with a face with hand over mouth emoji.

Prince Philip was taken to London's King Edward VII Hospital on Feb. 16 because he was "feeling unwell." He was taken to St. Bartholomew's cardiac care unit on March 1 for surgery to treat a "pre-existing condition," Vanity Fair reported.

After spending weeks at the hospital, Prince Philip was discharged at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. He was escorted from the hospital in a wheelchair and helped into the backseat of a BMW before heading to Windsor Castle.