The British news media is not pleased with Meghan Markle‘s depiction of them in her interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night. Most people in the U.K. have not seen the interview for themselves yet due to the time difference, but they may have formed an impression based on the coverage from British media outlets that watched it early. According to a report by CBS News, the interview itself won’t air until Monday night at 9 p.m. local time.
Markle pulled no punches against British newspapers in her tell-all interview this weekend, particularly the celebrity gossip tabloids. On Monday morning, news outlets carried on as usual, printing the most salacious quotes from the interview, including the racism Markle faced within Buckingham Palace and her strained relationship with the rest of the royal family. The tabloid outlets themselves shied away from Markle’s revelation that Markle had had suicidal thoughts over their relentless coverage of her.
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“Meghan makes sensational claim that Royals banned Archie from being a Prince because of concerns over how ‘DARK’ he would be and told her he would get no police protection but Harry refuses to reveal who made racist remark,” read one Daily Mail headline. Another read: “‘I was trapped until I met Meg, I just didn’t know it’: Harry says he feels sorry for William and Charles who can never escape and reveals his father stopped taking his calls during Megxit.”
The front page of the printed paper was more succinct: “MEGHAN ACCUSES PALACE OF RACISM.” However, critics are still questioning why none of this coverage turns a critical eye inward or addresses the tragedy of Markle’s mental health suffering at their hands.
True dignity is MailOnline – which has headlined its site with a frantic, hysterical and non-stop parade of Meghan and Harry splashes for many days – explaining it’s just a sideshow. “Our verdict: No one gives a fuck about the only thing we write about” pic.twitter.com/3esUpBY5O7
— Marina Hyde (@MarinaHyde) March 7, 2021
Daily Mail front page – special 3am edition pic.twitter.com/ALPODYGaXB
— Nick Bryant (@NickBryantNY) March 8, 2021
Meanwhile, more conventional outlets covered the interview just as closely. The Times‘ Valentine Low wrote: “Whatever the royal family was expecting from this interview, this was worse,” while The Telegraph‘s Camilla Tominey wrote: “It was both everything we had come to expect — and not what we were expecting at all. Make no mistake, this was a pregnant woman blaming the institution — and those within it — for failing to help her at her lowest ebb.”
Markle’s interview has her supporters calling for justice in many forms — from internal investigations in Buckingham Palace to the complete dissolution of the British monarchy. However, many are hopeful that the media will face some consequences for its treatment of Markle and reckon with its part in her story.
Markle and Winfrey’s full interview is streaming now for free on CBS.com. If you or someone you know are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.
