Harry and Meghan pilloried: British press continues to fire poisonous arrows

Harry and Meghan pilloried
British press continues to fire poisonous arrows

09/26/2022, 5:30 PM

Everything was forgotten for just a fraction of a moment when the Queen died. But meanwhile, the discussion about the British royal family is as lively as ever. Once again there are serious allegations against Harry and Meghan.

Duchess Meghan and her husband Prince Harry are used to accusations from the British press. But such a wide side was rare. The tabloids aren’t the only ones gleefully spreading a plethora of accusations against the couple, which are aired in two new books about the inner workings of the palace.

The Queen was “hurt and exhausted” by Meghan and Harry’s decision to end their royal lives, it says. Or that Meghan wanted to be rejected by the royal family from day one – and therefore did not accept any help.

Once the national mourning for the late Queen is over and the couple have returned to their adopted home in the US, the poison darts fly across the Atlantic. The shared grief over the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which had visibly shaken grandson Harry, raised hopes for reconciliation.

“When actions speak louder than words”

Thus spoke the new king Charles III. in his first address to the nation of his “love for Harry and Meghan (…) who continue to build lives abroad”. The Duke of Sussex, as Harry’s official title is, walked behind the coffin along with his estranged brother, Prince William. Together with their wives, the brothers watched the flowers offered by the mourners in demonstrative unit in front of Windsor Castle.

But looks can be deceiving. “When deeds speak louder than words,” royal expert Peter Hunt said during the mourning period that Meghan and Harry had unloaded from the reception for heads of state and government arriving at Buckingham Palace for the state funeral. When the queen was still dying, Charles is said to have ordered his son to travel with the family to Scotland without Meghan.

It was also irritating in circles critical of the royal family that Harry, unlike father Charles and brother William, was not allowed to participate in the mourning ceremonies in uniform – because he is no longer an active member of the royal family. Harry served in the military for ten years, served in Afghanistan twice, and was promoted to captain.

Is Meghan a ‘narcissistic sociopath’?

In contrast, personal accusations against the 38-year-old are widespread in the conservative press. Harry was “as absent-minded” as Meghan, writing “vile” emails to high-ranking employees, the “Sun” quoted from former Royals reporter for the “Times” new book, Valentine Low. The Sunday Times printed page-long excerpts from “Courtiers: the Hidden Power Behind the Crown.”

There, Low repeatedly emphasizes how rude Meghan and Harry would have been to employees. These in turn would have condemned the Duchess as a “narcissistic sociopath”. Meghan is said to have complained on a trip to Australia, Fiji and Samoa in 2018: “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.” The servants are said to have called themselves the “Sussex Survivors’ Club” – as those who survived the Sussexes.

Low’s vehement accusations and another book by royal expert Katie Nicholl, The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, show just how much the crisis continues within the inner circle of the royal family. The fact that the conservative press, which has been sharply criticized by Harry for years, is so eager to spread the accusations against the Queen’s grandson, could be a kind of forward defence.

Waiting for Harry’s Memoirs

Because Harry’s memoir, which he announced for this year, is expected soon. In London, there are fears of new, sharp attacks on the palace, as the couple has repeatedly raised since the explosive interview with American presenter Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

The “Mail on Sunday”, with which Harry has had several legal skirmishes, has now reported that the Duke of Sussex is trying to change his memoir at lightning speed. After the Queen’s death and his father’s taking office, he wanted to adopt a more soothing tone. “But it may be too late,” the newspaper quoted an insider as saying.