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Prince Harry takes legal action against the press

342 replies

Usethegoodbudder · 01/10/2019 20:35

m.eonline.com/news/1078711/prince-harry-defends-meghan-markle-against-ruthless-tabloid-campaign

About bloody time I say!

OP posts:
BenWillbondsPants · 02/10/2019 09:17

I find it odd that people have an issue with Megan seeing 'celebrity' friends.

She was an actress. She already had celebrity friends. Should she be expected to dump all her friends for pre-approved Royal friends now?

Piers Morgan, who is normally very negatively vocal about Megan, was notably quiet after the news a few minutes ago, where they reported Harry's statement. I wonder why.

BenWillbondsPants · 02/10/2019 09:21

It's a difficult one.

I don't think it is a difficult one at all. She has been relentlessly bullied in the press for months - for her hair, her clothes, her post-baby weight, not being visible with her baby, being visible without her baby, her family (which we know nothing about other than what's being in the media) and many, many other things.

I have no strong opinions on her either way, but I would feel the same if I saw any person being treated so badly by our absolutely shitty media. It's appalling and it needs to stop.

BenWillbondsPants · 02/10/2019 09:24

Just watched Piers Morgan on tv ranting about Meghan and Harry. Just as I suspected, he has accused Meghan of ‘goading’ Harry.
Piers Morgan is a nasty, horrible man who dislikes Meghan because she wisely decided to cut ties with him.

I missed this, is he really still bleating on?? He seems to think that she cut him off because she wanted bigger and better slebs. He can't even contemplate that she probably just realised he was an utter arsehole. He's embarrassing and it's weird how he just won't stop. He's obsessed.

Interested in this thread?

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TelAvivLastNight · 02/10/2019 09:25

The mail seems to be getting worse lately as well. The awful stories about Ben Stokes and Gareth Thomas. Today showing the face of the youth who threw the child at Tate Modern. A horrendous event but that boy clearly has mental health issues and should not be exposed in this way, it helps no one.

The Sussexes haven't helped themselves at times but when I saw them take Archie to meet the Archbishop I felt quite tearful. That dear little happy boy has no idea about the awful hatred his parents face each day.

TelAvivLastNight · 02/10/2019 09:43

When I said difficult- I meant I can totally understand the motivation to sue but I don't think it will achieve the outcome they desire which is less media attention. They are stoking the fire.

Kate Moss has a great approach here - say nothing at all. No response. Never complain, never explain. The press lose interest when they get no reaction.

BertrandRussell · 02/10/2019 09:52

I notice nobody has answered the “what has she done wrong?” question......

areyoubeingserviced · 02/10/2019 09:55

@TelAvivLastNight- I see what you mean about never explaining or complaining. However, you must remember that Harry was emotionally scarred by his mother’s death. He saw what she endured at the hands of the powerful press.
Idiots such as Piers Morgan constantly go on about the fact that Princess Diana was often in cahoots with the press. She probably didn’t have much of a choice as the press were such a ‘powerful force’
Harry is finally happy and now they won’t leave his wife alone. You can’t blame him for being concerned about his wife

areyoubeingserviced · 02/10/2019 09:56

@BertrandRussell/ no one can answer the question because she really hasn’t done anything wrong

EmmiJay · 02/10/2019 10:02

Good! Let them stoke the fire. I just wish people would be honest with themselves and say what they really think; Meghan, as a mixed race woman, should know her place and not ask for anything.🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 That is what it all comes down to and it pisses me off! She and Prince Harry are married with a beautiful child, nothing is going to change that so people need to either zip it or get over it especially that inflamed ARSEHOLE Piers Morgan. I detest any type of bullying and if pulling up one newspaper shuts up the rest (grief I hope so) then more power to them.

FinallyHere · 02/10/2019 10:04

Is there a way the public can support ?

Don't buy any paper that pumps out a constant stream of the scurrilous stories.

Looking at you, my DM who agrees the DM and MoS are horrible but regards reading them as a guilty secret on a par with scoffing a bar of chocolate. Sigh.

TelAvivLastNight · 02/10/2019 10:21

I am a lawyer and sometimes you have to balance what is 'right' with what outcome you actually desire.

If Harry wants to make an example of the Mail and publicly go to war with them to achieve this then this is absolute the right course of action and good for him.

If he wants more privacy and less/ more favourable media attention for himself and his family I don't think this course of action will achieve that.

His choice though, he is fortunate in that he has the financial means to do this. It may well benefit society as a whole but come at a great personal cost.

WellThisIsShit · 02/10/2019 11:36

Very sensible comment from @TelAvivLastNight

Puzzledandpissedoff · 02/10/2019 12:00

From a PR perspective after the success of their tour then I think just a short statement outlining their decision to take legal action would have been enough

I completely agree; ranting and shouting isn't always the best approach, and as a PP said, why have they gone after an incident that's months old and may have been largely forgotten?

Maybe those who wonder if it's really a deflection from something else (Andrew? Charles? Who knows?) have got a point - and if it all goes wrong, the family can use the fact it's Meghan who's bringing the case to close ranks

Soola · 02/10/2019 14:18

Of course the real villain is the person who sold or gave the personal letter to the press in the first place!

noodlenosefraggle · 02/10/2019 14:22

and if it all goes wrong, the family can use the fact it's Meghan who's bringing the case to close rank

I agree that he should maybe not have gone off on one, but this could be the reason why. A lot of the coverage has been about how Harry looks 'unhappy' or 'bored' with Meghan, a woman who has just given birth to his child. This has been the narrative on Social Media, picked up and run with by the DM. By just letting her take the legal action without pub;licly supporting her, he is leaving her open to even more abuse by the press and even more comments like that of Piers Morgan that he is just an innocent being manipulated by his evil wife.

ChicCroissant · 02/10/2019 14:46

Anybody answering the 'what has she done wrong' question gets shouted down though!

As a couple I think they have made the wrong decision on a number of occasions - it is impossible for us to know who is driving those decisions. It is hard to balance Harry's (latest) letter with guest editing Vogue, for instance, which would have been happening at the same time they were planning to sue the Mail on Sunday. Press they can control are welcome (Meghan was offered the cover but asked to edit instead).

They have a lot of PR advisers - either they are not taking advice or they have picked the wrong people. They have completely self-sabotaged the goodwill of the tour, really terrible timing with the letter. I do, unfortunately, think this will backfire on them.

BertrandRussell · 02/10/2019 14:58

“Anybody answering the 'what has she done wrong' question gets shouted down though!“
I don’t think anyone gets shouted down. They are questioned, though. Because they are so far always either not true or things that every single other member of the royal family does routinely to little or no comment.

ShirleyPhallus · 02/10/2019 15:43

It is hard to balance Harry's (latest) letter with guest editing Vogue, for instance, which would have been happening at the same time they were planning to sue the Mail on Sunday. Press they can control are welcome (Meghan was offered the cover but asked to edit instead).

I love the insinuation and comment on other threads that she is somehow MORE attention seeking by guest editing it rather than appearing on the front cover. You know, like her SIL who was praised for being so boundary breaking and modern and with the times.

CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook · 02/10/2019 15:55

Because they are so far always either not true or things that every single other member of the royal family does routinely to little or no comment

If you're so convinced of this...why ask yet again?

But ok. Lets just deal with the latest faux pas. Do you think this very public and somewhat intimate letter in which he appeals rather unambiguously to public sentiment by comparing his wife to his mother, drawing upon the latent sorrow of her tragic passing, and then ends with a dash of the melodramatic 'we need your good wishes' - or some such other - is something 'every' royal has done? Do you think it prudent? Do think it quite becoming of Royalty? Or is it perhaps something a high profile celebrity would more likely be expected to do? Do you think it likely to diffuse the situation or add heat to it? Do you think he ought to have sought out and received better advice before writing it, or do you think he was justified regardless? Which other RF members have issued such a personal, open and direct letter to the press? Do you think that if you want privacy it might possibly be mindful to not be quite so open? What about the timing? Is it wise to do this now? Is there in reality a direct comparison between M&D?

These are pertinent questions. We are talking about them because they have done something. We are not talking about Anne or E&S or even Fergie bless her, because for the most part they are quiet.

Because a few months later when a thread of this sort inevitably turns up again, amnesia will have once again set in and people will again be asked but what do they do wrong? Or What do they do that other royals don't? Love them or loathe them, the thread is about their actions which are obviously open to interpretation dissemination and yes judgement or praise.

BishopFrownofStThigh · 02/10/2019 15:57

Didn't Meghan's father give the letter to the press? This is all baffling.

Piers really does need to stop teeth gnashing though and leave them alone, he looks demented

CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook · 02/10/2019 16:04

I don't know what Piers' game is. Even I know that if anyone dating Harry stood a chance no way could they have Piers flipping Morgan in their address book. He knows this. I think he was just suprised to be played and dropped for once in his life.

Passthecherrycoke · 02/10/2019 16:04

“Didn't Meghan's father give the letter to the press? This is all baffling.”

Why? If the letter writer has the copyright the paper published it without her permission. The recipient is irrelevant isn’t he?

BertrandRussell · 02/10/2019 16:09

@CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook - I have no idea whether his letter and this court action is the right thing for them to do or not. I’m assuming that Meghan’s legal team thinks she has a reasonable chance of winning her case, and I think she has a perfect right to bring it. The RF have brought plenty of things to law before-why shouldn’t she? A kick in the teeth to the gutter press and a slug of money to charity if she wins- what’s not to like?

Harry’s letter- once again, I don’t know whether it was wise or not. That has surely to be a matter of opinion. I don’t think there’s any protocol reasons why he shouldn’t have written it, are there? And he’s right, the press has been vile to her, and it may have been affecting her more than shows. Who knows? I think it’s one of those things that will either make things a lot better or make them a lot worse- we won’t know til afterwards.

jobbinggogger · 02/10/2019 16:15

You know, I regularly read posts on here from posters who are reminded of traumatic events when their own children are born. Seeing a tiny, helpless baby brings out the protector in everyone. I wonder if Harry is reliving the pain and horror he felt and trying to protect his family. I wonder if the bullying Meghan is undergoing is triggering him to remember the past and try and prevent the same thing happening again. You can’t help but feel some empathy for him. He is a human being first.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 02/10/2019 16:40

By just letting her take the legal action without publicly supporting her, he is leaving her open to even more abuse by the press and even more comments like that of Piers Morgan that he is just an innocent being manipulated by his evil wife

TBF he did support her in his latest rant, but it's true she's been left to bring the prosecution (though I don't know if this had to be the case because she alone signed the letter)

My whole point, though, is that doing this by herself could make it all too easy for the family to hang her out to dry if it all goes wrong

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