From across the pond, it was simply surreal – the sixth in a row to the British throne in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, who even flaunts his pet chickens. His wife recounted how the royal life had driven her to consider suicide, claiming that at least one member of the royal family had ‘concerns’ about the color of their son’s skin.
But another revelation received less attention: Harry’s claim that his family was afraid of Britain’s powerful pony newspapers. He described Winfrey “what the ‘invisible contract’ behind closed doors, between the institution and the tabloids, is called ‘tabloids’.”
how so? “Well, to simplify it, it’s a case of: if you as a family member are willing to wine, eat and give full access to these reporters, you’ll get better press,” he said. “It really is a trap.”
Tabloid newspapers dominate Britain’s public life, shape public opinion and give their owners breathtaking influence.
“If the tabloids decide that your time has come, you’re a toaster,” said James O’Brien, a radio host who would like to come under the auspices of the British institution.
Correspondent Holly Williams asked: “How powerful are the British tabloids?”
“Their power is almost absolute,” O’Brien replies. “They put prime ministers at the pinnacle of power. And they lead the mother of all popularity contests.”
“Are they political?
“Wow, without a doubt.”
The pony newspapers love the royal family because they sell their glamorous and scandalous newspapers – and the royal family needs positive coverage to justify its existence, paid in part by the British taxpayer.
O’Brien said: “They are birds in a gilded cage, and if they make an enemy of the pony newspapers, the pony newspapers do not stop writing about it, but just stop writing the good things.”
All royals are criticized by tabloids and sometimes harassment. Even the queen is accused of not showing enough compassion after the death of Princess Diana. But there was a racial element in the coverage of the Duchess of Sussex, some of which was blatant.
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“I do accept that the institution would have been strange to her,” said Kelvin MacKenzie, who was formerly the editor of one of Britain’s best-selling pony newspapers, The Sun. He said it was not race but Meghan’s behavior that made her unpopular. First, he told Williams, the royals were supposed to be apolitical, and she was too judgmental.
He said: “I think we have now reached a point where people do not really want to read good news about Meghan.”
“So, she’s so unpopular that the tabloid newspaper knows people only want to hear negative things about her?” asked Williams.
“They just want bad news.”
“And so, do they give it to the public?”
“Give it to them, yes.”
Others here are of the opinion that the British tabloids – and parts of the British establishment – could consciously or not accept a bisexual American at the height of the British class system.
Dawn Butler, a Member of Parliament, said of the tabloids: “I think they showed their true colors. They showed that they have a prejudice, and they showed that they are racist in their reporting, we know that.”
Williams asked, “Why did they chase after her?”
“Because they can,” she replied. “The tabloid is chasing us all.”
Butler told us that she herself was bullied by the tabloids. Most worrying, she said, is Meghan’s claim that the palace did not defend her when fake stories were printed, including that she made her sister-in-law Kate cry.
Butler said, “Was the relationship between the two institutions so close that instead of calling the truth, they decided to perpetuate a lie?”
The Duchess now admits that when she married her fairytale prince, she did not understand the institution she married or the complicated connection with the tabloid media.
According to James O’Brien, “You are supposed to know your place. People who refuse to recognize their place, [or] they do not know their place, I think it’s a bit like painting a target on your back. ‘
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Story produced by Erin Lyall. Editor: Mark Ludlow.