Rita Panahi: World’s most privileged victims invite more media intrusion

Harry and Meghan want all the fame, fortune and adulation that comes from their privileged positions without the tedious duty.

Frankly, I’d rather stick thumbtacks in my eyes than sit through Harry and Meghan’s latest tell-all interview.

The world’s most pampered, self-entitled victims will feature in a two-hour primetime special, airing on Monday night, where they will “speak their truth” to Oprah Winfrey.

Honestly, you’ll see far more depth, self-awareness and intelligence watching the vacant dolts on Married At First Sight than the formerly royal couple. Since splitting from the Royal Family more than a year ago, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have done little more than one exclusive interview after another.

Megxit was supposed to free the couple from media intrusion but it’s clear that they not only need the media’s interest, but they crave and actively seek it. Only last week we saw Prince Harry — who has quickly gone from the most popular, relatable royal to the most derided — make a clown of himself with late night TV comic James Corden.

As his grandfather lay ill in hospital, Harry was singing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song and swanning around Los Angeles on an open-top bus. Say what you will about Prince Philip but he did not retire from royal duties until he was 96 years old, and he understood the meaning of public service.

Ex-royals Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are again gearing up to once again “speak their truth”

But Harry and Meghan want all the fame, fortune and adulation that comes from their privileged positions without the tedious duty. They are the very personification of “having your cake and eating it too”.

The pair said they had to flee the UK to escape the media but after a brief sojourn in a sleepy corner of Canada they set up house in a $20m-plus mansion in Santa Barbara, in an area favoured by some of the biggest stars in the world.

Far from being scared of media intrusion, they regularly invite an increasingly disinterested public to peer into their lives and their “pain”. What they don’t want is any form of criticism. And, when criticism, much of it well deserved, comes their way they blame “racism”, the media or The Palace.

The latest storm sees Meghan accused of bullying multiple staff members, so much so that some resigned. Indeed Meghan lost no fewer than nine staff in just 18 months with the Duchess accused of reducing her underlings to tears on a number of occasions.

As Buckingham Palace launched an investigation into the bullying claims the couple again played victim claiming sinister forces at “the firm” are pushing a false narrative.

Reportedly, some of the angst between Meghan and her staff concerned the former actor’ desire to keep free designer garments sent to her. How perfectly vacuous.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist

@RitaPanahi