The British tabloids finally got on Prince Harry’s nerves. While the royals are known for ignoring hurtful and false stories about them, the Duke of Sussex recently decided that he would do something about it by releasing a lengthy rant online.
However, Prince Harry didn’t attack the media for his sake, but for how the press treated his wife, Meghan Markle. Now, Princess Diana’s ex-private secretary shared that the couple’s decision to sue a couple of publications wasn’t a smart move as it could come back to bite them.
Patrick Jephson believes that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might benefit from a less confrontational approach. The British tabloids spare no one and would do anything to publish the juiciest story out there, real or fabricated. They don’t care about the feelings of celebrities and royals. So, the Duke of Sussex’s statement possibly didn’t really affect them as much as the prince hoped.
Jephson also noted that Prince Harry mentioning his mother in his statement was unnecessary. “Diana may have been something in the mold-breaker stakes herself, but she never ducked Balmoral, lectured voters on democracy, or borrowed invective more normally found in the White House to communicate with a free and fundamentally friendly press,” he said.
Meanwhile, a lot of royal experts were shocked to know that Prince Harry released his statement on his own and not via Buckingham Palace. As it turns out, that’s not the only surprising thing about his rant.
A previous report revealed that Prince Harry didn’t consult the senior royals, such as his father, Prince Charles, and even older brother Prince William, and royal advisers before releasing his statement online. The Duke of Sussex wrote the letter himself and didn’t ask any advice from anyone else.
As for Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry’s secretary shared that she was informed about the plan despite initial thoughts that Her Majesty also knew nothing about it. However, although she was given a heads up, a royal source said that the Queen might not be too happy with her grandson’s decision, especially because the rant was released after his and Meghan Markle’s successful South African tour.
“This is not the done thing on a royal tour when the principals are representing the Queen and country,” a royal source said. “I can’t imagine the Queen will be very impressed.”
