He describes her as "funny, sweet and cool" goes on to say how her family were being hounded by the press once they found out and then
"She was described in one paper as my ‘bit of rough’, because she once worked in a factory or something,” he continued. “Jesus, I thought, are we really such a country of insufferable snobs?"
I'm not convinced any of that is 'harsh' or 'hitting a new low'. I think it acknowledges they were in a relationship, he thought she was lovely but the press were a barrier (who'd have thought)🤷♀️