Piers Morgan used to be a lot of things: a British editor of the tabloid newspaper, a columnist for the Daily Mail Online, a Good morning Britain ITV host and, apparently, Meghan Markle’s friend.
The Duchess of Sussex and her husband, Prince Harry, revealed to Oprah and 17 million viewers in a worldwide interview on Sunday night how incessant brutal press, oppressive palace life and royal racism drove Meghan to consider suicide. Buckingham Palace responded with a statement expressing family sadness. Morgan responds with a series of vitriols. “I would not believe her if she read me a weather report,” he said of Meghan the following Monday. His program this morning becomes the ‘most complained show on British television in almost 15 years’, Deadline reported. More than 41,000 people have lodged written complaints about Morgan’s behavior with broadcaster ITV, including one formal complaint by Meghan herself. Ofcom, a media watchdog company in the UK, is now investigating Morgan.
On Tuesday, Morgan previously returned briefly to present his ITV show storm off middle program. His co-host, Alex Beresford, defends Meghan and Harry and calls out Morgan’s treatment of them. “I understand you’re having a personal relationship with Meghan Markle – or had one – and she cut you off,” Beresford said. “Has she said anything about you since she cut you off?” I do not think she has. But still, you continue to throw her in the trash. Morgan got up and stepped out. “I’m done with this,” he said, interrupting Beresford. Shortly afterwards, Morgan’s leave of ITV became official, and did he go to Twitter to defend his use of freedom of speech.
But why in the world does tabloid Mr. Morgan seem so personally touched – and offended – by Meghan? We sift through the confusing timeline of Morgan and Meghan’s relationship – from friendship to hate – so you do not have to.
Autumn 2015: Morgan, a Package fan, follow Meghan on Twitter. She responds with an instant message, who opened a line of communication between the two until their meeting a year later. She sends him released beforehand Package episodes they discuss about DM. A friendship is born.
June 29, 2016: Meghan is in London to see Serena Williams play tennis at Wimbledon. She sends a message to Morgan: “I’d like to say hello!” They meet for drinks before dinner at his local bar. Morgan’s first impression, he writes in his Daily Mail column: “She looked like the Hollywood star from every inch – very slender, very legs, very elegant and impossibly glamorous.” Their conversation stretched over Rwanda, race and gun violence. At the end of the night, Morgan proclaims, “I really liked her.” He wrote: “When we drank in my bar, I found that she was a very smart, focused, considerate, feisty and confident woman.” This seems to be the first and only time they have met in person.
She left their drinks behind to a private, exclusive dinner party in Hertford St. Morgan 5 to go, by digging through a tabloid newspaper that the very meal she left him for was where she met Prince Harry.
12 November 2016: Morgan calls Meghan ‘delightful’ on Twitter.
December 15, 2016: Morgan writes a Daily Mail column about why Meghan would be a big bride. He praised her humanitarian spirit, which he would later criticize, saying that she would be divorced and multiracial as assets for the royal family. The column ends with him encouraging Harry to make the question appear ASAP.
27 November 2017: The royal family announce the engagement of Harry and Meghan. Morgan congratulates the couple, and especially Meghan, tweet: “My friend will be the perfect modern bride.” He continues clue that he hopes to sign a wedding invitation.
But the first feeling of resentment towards Meghan is evident from his column on engagement day. His caption read: “Congratulations, Harry, you have chosen a real custodian (even if your romance destroyed my beautiful friendship with the wonderful Meghan Markle).” In the article, he revisits their first meeting – and encounters the fact that they have not communicated since.
Late 2017 / early 2018: The ghost narrative penetrates columns, tweets, and talk show interviews. Morgan end an interview and said, “She’s my invitation to the wedding to cut me to death.”
14–19 May 2018: As Markle’s family drama unfolds in the days before the wedding, Morgan tweet his sympathy for Meghan, whose father will not attend. He then writes a column in which he addresses Meghan’s father, who sold photos to a paparazzi photographer, and expresses sadness for Meghan. The day before the wedding, Morgan tweets again that he is still upset because he missed the wedding invitation.
20 May 2018: Morgan loves the royal wedding he watched (to great dismay) from TV, not the chapel.
June 18, 2018: Morgan starts turning on Meghan. He invites Meghan’s father to his ITV morning show and sketches a story of him as the pitiful victim of Meghan’s cruelty and cold.
December 2018: Morgan bel Meghan his ex-boyfriend and a social climber. He too continues to write in defense of Meghan’s father and calls out Meghan for her seemingly horrific treatment of him. Fans think this attack is becoming a bit obsessive –and a little old.
January 8, 2020: Meghan and Harry announce that they will be retiring from their duties as ‘senior’ royals. Morgan merges on Twitter.
March 6, 2020: In his column, Morgan compliments a rainy day photo of Meghan and Harry. Yet the piece quickly takes a negative turn. He writes: ‘I have made no secret of my contempt for many of the Sussexes’ antics since they got married 20 months ago, nor that my ex-boyfriend Meghan made me haunt me when she met her prince.’ He mentions how Meghan and Harry’s supposedly constant ‘complaining’ and attempts to ‘bully the queen to do their royal things their way’ and ‘PC-crazy wakefulness’ quickly make them fall out of the media’s favor.
Summer to winter 2020: As Finding freedom, a new book sympathetic to Meghan and Harry, hits the shelves and the royal duo sign their Netflix deal, Morgan’s avalanche of insults continues. He calls them “hypocritical” in one column and “some terribly bitter, baffling self-absorbed, utterly deceived and sad tone-deaf-laughing stocks” in another (slightly more extreme) one.
March 7, 2021: Meghan does not name Morgan by name in her interview with Oprah, but indicates how press attacks have seriously affected her mental health.
March 8, 2021: Morgan responds to the Oprah interview with a lack of care and sensitivity. He writes in the Daily Mail, “I have never looked at a more repulsive unobstructed interview. Nor is there one more abominable hypocrite or contradictory. He gives the same ideas during the air Good morning Britain.
March 9, 2021: Morgan storms out Good morning Britain when he is called out by his fellow presenter for his cruel obsession. He ended the show shortly thereafter. Meghan has lodged an official complaint against Morgan with ITV.
March 10, 2021: Morgan writes to Twitter: “I believed Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview on Monday. I have had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still do not. ”