Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s victory over the Mail is a triumph for the couple. It is, of course, not easy to spend one’s life in the public eye, constantly scrutinised by the British media as Meghan has been over the past few years. Last year, Harry and Meghan took the decision to step away from the royal family and head across the pond in the hope that they might enjoy a more quiet, private life.
The very next day after their high court victory, they immediately undermined themselves by publishing a cheesy, black-and-white, Notting Hill-style photoshoot to announce Markle’s pregnancy, which was promptly splashed all over the front pages off the tabloids they claim to despise.
The privacy of individuals is an issue that we should take very seriously in this day and age. While press freedom should certainly be valued, even public figures are entitled to a private life. But day by day, the Sussex’s war against the invasiveness of the British press appears more like an inability to take criticism.
Since leaving the royal family to gain more privacy, the couple have made multiple television appearances to lecture about climate change – after jetting around the world-, signed multi-million dollar deals with Netflix, Spotify and Disney, authorised the publication of their official biography, started a podcast, and organised a 90-minute primetime interview with the most famous talk show host in the world. This is not exactly shying away from publicity. Although they did officially end their cooperation with four British newspapers – the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror – which, coincidentally, were the only papers that tended to give them negative coverage.
Rather than highlighting the victimisation of a couple of several media outlets, all of this points to a desire to escape scrutiny; something which Markle cannot seriously expect after having first built a career as an actor and then joining one of the world’s most famous families.
It is often said that the press has treated the Duchess unfairly ever since she started dating Prince Harry; not a day could go by without her facing unjustified criticism. This is not quite true. Back when the couple first got together, coverage of their activities was overwhelmingly positive. Time magazine shortlisted Meghan Markle for 2018’s Person of the Year. The Sun itself ran a 25-page special edition which covered the couple’s wedding, a beautiful and romantic event which was broadcast live on national television for the whole country to see. Even the Telegraph published an article only a few days ago imploring the public to sympathise with Markle.
On the contrary, it was arguably only after the Sussexes began preaching from their privileged position, combined with rumours of rifts between them and the Queen, that attitudes towards them began to turn sour.
It is perfectly understandable that Harry wants his wife to have some privacy. After all, his mother’s turbulent relationship with the press contributed to her tragic death. But to spend one day taking the Mail to court for breaching personal boundaries, and the next day happily allowing the same newspaper to publish a photo of a pregnant Meghan confirms that the couple does not mind publicity of the kind that they have manufactured themselves.
Perhaps next month’s Oprah Winfrey interview will give the Duke and the Duchess the airtime they need to set the record straight. But given what happened in the last high-profile interview by a member of the royal family, Prince Andrew, one might be forgiven for being filled with dread.
Alex Howe