’Attention-seeking’: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle blasted over Afghanistan post

Critics have ripped into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for their ‘grandiose and patronising’ statement on the Afghanistan crisis.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been blasted over a social media post where they stated they feel “layers of pain” about the Afghanistan crisis.

The royal couple were branded “attention-seeking” and “completely meaningless” for the statement, which was branded “grandiose and patronising” by critics.

British TV personality Piers Morgan, royal biographer Angela Levin, and UK radio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer were among those who slammed Harry and Meghan’s “attention-seeking word salad”.

It came after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued a lengthy statement telling fans they were “speechless” over the horror unfolding in Afghanistan.

Despite saying they were “heartbroken” at the Taliban’s takeover, they did not mention US President Joe Biden, who is facing fury from across the world over his decision to withdraw US troops.

Meghan and Harry’s statement about Afghanistan was branded ‘completely meaningless’ by critics. Picture: AFP

Harry and Meghan described the world as “exceptionally fragile” and urged everyone to prove their “global humanity”.

“As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless,” the pair said in the statement.

“As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, and the threat of it worsening after last weekend’s earthquake, we are left heartbroken.

“And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.

“When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realise it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we, as a people, are being conditioned to accept it.

Prince Harry, far right, served two tours of Afghanistan while serving in the British army. Picture: AFP

“It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action – together.”

The wordy statement, posted on the couple’s official Archewell website, did not resonate with a string of commentators including Ms Levin, who wrote a biography on Prince Harry. “Who do they think they are?,” Ms Levin told The Sun.

“It’s as if we are all small children and now they are going to look after us,” she said.

“It’s meaningless – completely meaningless.”

She claimed the couple were “posturing” rather than offering a way forward. “It’s so grandiose and patronising,” she said.

“This is another example of them telling us what to do – we mustn’t fly, we mustn’t have more than two children, we must be compassionate to those we know and those we don’t know – and they’re the least compassionate people you can imagine.

“It’s all about telling other people and the hypocrisy is enormous.”

Royal biographer Angela Levin called the couple’s words ‘hypocrisy’. Picture: AFP

MORGAN BLASTS HARRY MEGHAN

Responding to a tweet that read, “Prince Harry and Meghan Markle break silence on Afghanistan to say they are ‘speechless,” Morgan quipped: “If only they were”.

Adding to criticism of the couple over their statement, UK radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer said: “Thank god ‘speechless’ Harry and Meghan have spoken on the terrible state of the world, so now we all know what we are supposed to feel, say and do”.

“We’d never have known if it weren’t for them being so … y’know … speechless.”

The criticism continued on Twitter where one user dismissed the royals’ statement as “yet more word salad and bandwagon jumping”.

Another said: “They’re never speechless, are they? What we saw is just Harry and Meghan focusing on the hottest topics of the moment with lots of word salad, but without any big action to help.”

And a third hit out: “Pompous, sanctimonious and egocentric.

“It just beggars belief. I’m embarrassed for them.”

If only they were. https://t.co/uScXx0yDoi

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 17, 2021

The couple didn’t include any reference to Mr Biden, despite Meghan urging Americans to vote for him during last year’s presidential election.

Mr Biden delivered a speech on the Afghanistan disaster yesterday, declaring “the buck stops with me”, after blaming Donald Trump, as well as the Afghan government, soldiers and people for the “gut-wrenching” scenes.

The president blasted the Afghan army for “giving up” and said it’s right to leave – despite the Taliban seizing Kabul just a month after American troops quit the country.

Prince Harry spent 10 years in the Army and went on two tours of duty on the frontline in Afghanistan.

In an earlier statement, Harry had urged service personnel to “reach out” in the wake of the chaos.

“We encourage everybody across the Invictus network – and the wider military community – to reach out to each other and offer support for one another,” he said.

‘SECRET’ CHRISTENING FOR LILIBET IN THE US

Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will reportedly have a “secret” christening for daughter Lilibet in the US, a royal expert has claimed.

The Sussexes, who are currently living in their $20 million California mansion having retreated from royal duty last year, are currently on parental leave having welcomed their daughter on June 4.

Recently, reports circulated that the couple wanted to christen Lilibet at Windsor in front of the Queen.

The couple posted this picture to announce Meghan’s pregnancy with Lilibet. They have yet to publicly release a photo of their daughter. Picture: PA Wire

However royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliam told the UK’s Express the couple will “do things their own way” with Lilibet, adding, “It seems certain that her christening will be in Meghan’s home state and with the secrecy but without the controversy that surrounded Archie’s christening.”

The couple have never publicly released a photo of their daughter, with Mr Fitzwilliam saying the decision shows the couple are acting on their own terms.

Of the couple’s initial plans to have Lilibet christened at Windsor, a royal insider said: “Harry told several people that they want to have Lili christened at Windsor, just like her brother. They are happy to wait until circumstances allow.”

However royal biographer Angela Levin said Prince Harry was putting the Queen in a “difficult position” by expecting her to attend his daughter Lilibet’s christening.

She described Prince Harry’s expectation that his grandmother to attend as unreasonable, given she has missed christenings of other royal children in recent years.

According to Ms Levin, the Queen sometimes isn’t present at such events because “they’re not close enough to the Crown”.

– with The Sun

Originally published as ’Attention-seeking’: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle blasted over Afghanistan post