‘But the past week has seen a line crossed. His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public - the smear on the front page of a newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and outright sexism and racism of media trolls and web article comments. Some of it has been hidden from the public - the nightly battles to keep defamatory stories out of the papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.
‘Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm. He knows that commentators will say this is “the price she has to pay” and that “this is all part of the game”. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game - it is her life and his.
‘He has asked for this statement to be issued in the hopes that those in the press who have been driving this story can pause and reflect before any further damage is done. He knows that it is unusual to issue a statement like this, but hopes that fair-minded people will understand why he has felt it necessary to speak publicly.’
This statement was a masterstroke. Not only did Harry breach boundaries, but he also waded in to protect Meghan in a way he had never done with Chelsy Davy or Cressida Bonas, both of whom had had to endure years of press attention with never a word from him to protect them. This revealed that Meghan was in a class of her own. The statement also showed both of them in the most positive of lights, garnering them sympathy from the legions of romantics and admirers who were rooting them on to long- term happiness. Furthermore, it stymied further enquiry. In so doing, it muzzled not only unfair critics but also fair ones, who could thereafter be unfairly accused of racism if they did not back off. It brilliantly confused the role of valid enquirer with the trolls, by the expedient of apportioning equal blame between those who write valid stories and those who use the internet as a forum to vent their dubious opinions.
Speaking as a public figure that has many friends in the public eye, I can tell you that no one ever reads the comments made about them on the internet unless you’re in the mood to have a good laugh. All public figures are regularly trolled. It goes with the territory. Only when there is a genuine legal issue do publications monitor their comments’ sections. Otherwise, everyone takes the view that the crazies who haunt the internet are such a tiny albeit vociferous proportion of the newspaper-reading public, that they should be dismissed rather than acknowledged. But in his statement Harry had conflated responsible writers with crazy opinionists, using the latter to silence the former. It was a commendably effective technique, and certainly bought him and Meghan enough time and space to develop their relationship in peace.
Sexism was another red herring thrown into the mix to useful purpose. By this time, the press had discovered that Meghan was indeed personally responsible for content on The Tig. In it, she regularly beat the twin drums of racism and sexism. In the context of the blog, sexism might have made sense when it prevented women from achieving their full potential, but in the context of the British press reporting on the relationship between one of its princes and a love interest, there was no sexism when they tried to garner further information about her past. They had been merely trying to substantiate the rumours swirling around about her activities. Bringing up sexism not only muzzled the press but also diverted them away from the knowledge that Meghan will have known they would alight upon sooner or later: How appropriate is it for any member of a royal family in a constitutional monarchy, which has to remain politically neutral and respectful of the opinions of all its citizens, to take up with an aggressive, proactive, ambitious, opinionated, left-wing political activist? The Tig was visible proof that her beliefs and personality were incompatible with the royal role which she would inevitably have to fulfill if her relationship with Harry should end in marriage. The valid question which she and Harry managed to divert the press away from was a simple one: How will someone as vociferous as Meghan Markle, whose posture is that she needs to use her voice, fit into a role that requires the silent acceptance of viewpoints which do not accord with her own? It is interesting to speculate upon whether much trouble would not have been avoided if such issues had been addressed from the outset. But, by issuing the statement that Harry did, he and Meghan avoided the inherent problems until after they had married and it had become apparent to her that she preferred utilising her voice to a life of silent service.
By buying themselves time the way they did, Harry and Meghan were actually only postponing the inevitable. They actually believed that they had successfully silenced all those organs of
