to be pleased with the Ofcam ruling on Piers Morgan

[TeloMere]

Even though I can't stand the bloke?

The marriage thing is immaterial, the point is, it sets a dangerous precedent for free speech if journalists get fired for questioning the integrity of the rich and powerful.

As to the big tech- watch every single thread that isn't sycophantic fawning about Meghan get derailed to be about Andrew or deleted by exactly the same posters- is something else at play here? I don't have a problem with her actually, but she should be scrutinised.

It's a dangerous tribalism that affects us all

@PwySyddYma

Why is everyone so hung up on this "marriage" thing. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?

I personally can't decide which one is the dimmer lightbulb, her for thinking she got married in a back garden or him for not explaining to her that's not how it works.

I can't say that their dimness has an effect on my life

It doesn’t matter in and off itself but it does show her to be something of an unreliable historian. Along with claiming she didn’t know much about Prince Harry or look him up before agreeing to date him.

*of itself

Tbh it was a bit "we were married already, ner ner ner ner ner, and fooled the British public, idiots who thought they were watching our mega-bucks wedding (that they paid for)... But we were married already..."

Even though they weren't, so it was just as bit of a stupid / nasty thing to say.

That could grate somewhat.

So, if there had just been the "private" marriage in the garden and the couple had "skipped" the formal ceremony, would she have believed she was still actually married?

@stepupandbecounted

She called it a marriage. Big deal.

It is factually incorrect and a lie. What a silly thing to do in public in front of millions.

Only in the context of legality. I can have a religious ceremony and in the eyes of my religion that ceremony is where I am officially married. For it to be legal in the UK you them have to sign the papers. If you sonf then legally neither is entitled to anything if they separate.

Its why for example many religious Muslims don't considered themselves married unless they do the religious ceremony, might have a piece of paper telling you that you are but that isn't what matters to them in their culture. Similarly if they get divorced (albeit this is where it depends on how religious they are) the legal paper means nothing until the husband actually says a phrase to his wife (can't remember it exactly) that they are considered divorced in their culture.

So there is she lied and was not factually correct. It all depends on your religion, culture etc as to what definition of being married is more important.

In my religion that piece of legal paper is just what this country needs for it to be recognised in reality I woukdnf say im married until my religious ceremony where I say my equivalent of vows has been done

@stepupandbecounted

She called it a marriage. Big deal.

It is factually incorrect and a lie. What a silly thing to do in public in front of millions.

If she’d said she was his legal wife and tried to do things that only his wife could do, you might have a point. She just used a word to describe how she felt. I’m pretty sure both were aware it wasn’t a legal thing - she was, surely, talking about her emotional feeling. I’ve seen lots of people on here refer to ‘DH’ then say they aren’t actually married. Are they hateful liars who deserve to be bullied relentlessly by a lying, cheating, phone hacking twat too? Seriously. Have you all forgotten how utterly vile Morgan is?

Seriously. Have you all forgotten how utterly vile Morgan is?

No I haven’t but so what?

It doesn’t matter whether piers Morgan is a saint or a serial killer - the issue is whether or not Meghan is or isn’t telling the truth.

Ah I see, so it's he "character" this negatively impacts. Can't say I personally need her to be an upstanding character of moral fiber. She isn't a police officer, a magistrate, judge or civil servant. She's just some actress from a TV show.

I mean she's not even a member of the royal family anymore is she? Or I might have that wrong.

Again I can't get worked up about it, but each to their own.

No, she was not describing an emotional feeling she said they were in fact married three days before.

It was an outright lie.

One she probably regrets now as she looks like a twat, given the Archbishop of Canterbury has since confirmed it is a lie.

I actually might watch Piers after this, as quite frankly we could do with more like him.

@Mrgrinch

I hope he goes back to GMB, I haven't watched a single episode since he left.

You should have - it's much better

@stepupandbecounted

No, she was not describing an emotional feeling she said they were in fact married three days before.

It was an outright lie.

One she probably regrets now as she looks like a twat, given the Archbishop of Canterbury has since confirmed it is a lie.

It wasn't an outright lie at all. How many times do we have to go through this? They were "married" in her eyes.

That is her belief, and it is one held in many countries and cultures, even if not in the racist UK.

Given that the Archbishop 'confirmed' NOTHING other than the legal marriage was the public day, and said he wouldn't confirm or deny a private ceremony, I'd say the Archbishop backed her up. There was no lie. No matter how desperate you are to believe there was.

You are boring me now Freddy.

@stepupandbecounted

You are boring me now Freddy.

Yes, I am finding your inability to understand that marriage is not just legal quite boring as well.

@PwySyddYma

Why is everyone so hung up on this "marriage" thing. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?

I personally can't decide which one is the dimmer lightbulb, her for thinking she got married in a back garden or him for not explaining to her that's not how it works.

I can't say that their dimness has an effect on my life

The point is that Markle falsely claimed that they got married before the wedding ceremony. It’s impossible to believe that such an obviously intelligent woman didn’t know she was lying, therefore it was completely reasonable & legitimate for Morgan, as a journalist, to ask questions about what else she may have lied about in the interview.

Ofcom have today rejected complaints made by Markle herself and many others about Morgan questioning her honesty. He was entitled to ask those questions and the fact that he is an odious twat is irrelevant.

Good call.

It wasn't an outright lie at all. How many times do we have to go through this? They were "married" in her eyes

Ahh I see, this whole “it’s my truth” thing, rather than it being in any way objectively true.

@Unfashionable As I've said, she didn't lie. There is a distinct and completely total lack of ability of people in the UK to understand that marriage is not just a legal concept, and it's common in many countries and cultures to consider yourself married even if you haven't filed the paperwork. It's called Common Law Marriage or DeFacto marriage. The UK is not the be all and end all. In the culture and country she grew up in, it's common to have a private vow exchange ceremony before the legal wedding. She didn't lie. She used common terms that are common with the culture she grew up in.

@SlipperyDippery

It wasn't an outright lie at all. How many times do we have to go through this? They were "married" in her eyes

Ahh I see, this whole “it’s my truth” thing, rather than it being in any way objectively true.

That's the point I'm making. UK posters trying to assert their truth is the truth, when I am saying look at it objectively and try and look outside the UK and understand marriage has different meanings and different values/practices/concepts in different countries and cultures. Stop thinking the UK way is the only way.

@Charley50

Tbh it was a bit "we were married already, ner ner ner ner ner, and fooled the British public, idiots who thought they were watching our mega-bucks wedding (that they paid for)... But we were married already..."

Even though they weren't, so it was just as bit of a stupid / nasty thing to say.

That could grate somewhat.

That’s it in a nutshell.

good on Piers for calling out that crap anyway. I don't know or watch him but good on him. Someone needs to have the balls to stand up for the truth.

Pity he didn't stand up for the truth when the newspaper he edited printed fake photos of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. Basically a massive Al Qaeda recruiting poster on the front page. The consequences of Meghan using slightly misleading language to describe a back garden wedding ceremony that wasn't a legal marriage don't really compare.

The same rag wasn't the one that hacked Milly Dowler's phone but was no stranger to illegal phone hacking for other stories. He isn't some fine upstanding principled truth seeker. He's a self seeking guttersnipe.

You would all say I am lying right if I said I was married after having my religious ceremony conducted but bot signed the paper yet..

Yet in my religion that ceremony is what is considered as being married.

Difference is im not a celebrity saying it so you don't give two hoots.

But hey carry on calling her liar all you like it doesn't make you right either.

How sad that the only view of being married is the legal part that protects each person's rights instead of it being about two people coming together in union. That law only came in to make sure women were shafted when they separated and have certain rights to claim.

There is no such thing as 'common law marriage' in the UK, as many a woman has found out to her cost. It's just a phrase and has no legal meaning or standing.
Jerry Hall, for one. Her marriage to Mick Jagger was not recognised as legal in this country. And some Islamic women have only an Islamic ceremony, without the vital legal bit. They can then find that they're not entitled to the rights that a legal marriage confers. Over property, assets, pensions and other supports.
You can say private vows to each other on a beach, or a hilltop or wherever you like , and you then might consider yourself married.
But you're not. A common law marriage is not a marriage.
When Megan Markle said that her real marriage ceremony took place three days earlier, it seemed to suggest the huge (and scandalously expensive) to-do in Windsor was just 'for show'.

Many people found that offensive and, yes, culturally tone deaf for someone marrying into the British royal family.
I am generally a republican although largely neutral about minor royals but she made a whopping faux pas there and sadly lost a lot of respect.

There is a distinct and completely total lack of ability of people in the UK to understand that marriage is not just a legal concept, and it's common in many countries and cultures to consider yourself married even if you haven't filed the paperwork

Meghan’s other culture however is American, and specifically Californian. The laws of California are equally clear: there is no concept of a “common law marriage” there either. The couple to be married have to present themselves before a registrar, say the necessary words to consent to marriage and fill out the appropriate paperwork (this all happens at the same time). So growing up Meghan would have understood very well what the concept of marriage was, and it the same as it is here. Attempts to spin a fantasy that she must have been referring to something else, based on other cultures which she is not a part of, comes across as an almighty stretch.

She also changed her evidence in her court case against Associated Newspapers Limited, something that would not have been necessary if she had been accurate when she first signed her witness statement and declaration of truth.