Harry, Meghan’s war on the media could backfire
As Prince Harry and Meghan’s split from the family was made official, the pair fired a shot at the establishment surrounding the royals. In return, they may have incurred the wrath of the very institutions they have been trying to escape.
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When Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announced their decision to split from the royal family, they made a point of firing a shot at the establishment surrounding the royals and at the long-held tradition of the “royal correspondents” who cover them.
After last week’s shock announcement, the couple launched a new website, controversially declaring they will stop co-operating with the long-established “royal rota” system of journalists covering the royal family.
Instead, Prince Harry and Meghan – who are already in the process of suing British newspapers The Sun, the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mirror – said they planned to release information via their own social media channels, as well as “engage with grassroots media organisations” and other “credible media outlets.”
“Britain’s Royal Correspondents are regarded internationally as credible sources of both the work of members of The Royal Family as well as of their private lives,” the couple said on their newly created official website. “This misconception propels coverage that is often carried by other outlets around the world, amplifying frequent misreporting.”
But according to British royal commentator, James McCourt, the couple’s decision to distance themselves from traditional media outlets could be ill-advised.
“My feeling is that Harry and Meghan’s plan for a new press pool of young, up and coming journalists to replace the traditional royal rota of reporters is perhaps a little shortsighted,” McCourt told News Corp Australia.
“Although I’m sympathetic to the fact that the publications exclusively covering their engagements have perhaps been economical with the truth in the past, I’m convinced that banishing them from official coverage will only leave the paparazzi press more determined to capture non-official shots of the couple and pursue them even more vehemently.”
Indeed, by ditching the “royal rota” system, the royal couple are dismantling decades of tradition between the royal family and Britain’s press.
The “rota” was first established in part due to logistic and security reasons. “Due to space restrictions and security, it is rarely possible to allow all media who wish to cover a royal engagement equal access to the event. A rota, or pool system, was therefore introduced,” reads the UK’s News Media Association website.
The system gives preferential treatment to certain British publications, and is used as a way for the country’s press to independently report on members of the royal family and to hold them accountable to the British public, as they receive some taxpayer funding.
But Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer participate in the longstanding tradition, saying “the current system predates the dramatic transformation of news reporting in the digital age”.
Still, if the royal couple are looking to escape the glare of the media spotlight, it has so far backfired spectacularly.
Since “Megxit” was announced last Wednesday, the story has, not surprisingly, dominated Britain’s front pages and the media has unleashed its wrath on the couple, calling them everything from “spoiled” to “ungrateful” to “disrespecting the Queen” and the “institution”.
British commentator, Piers Morgan, has been especially vocal, calling Meghan a “ruthless social climber” and Prince Harry “weak”, while royal photographer Arthur Edwards wrote in an op-ed in The Sun that “ever since he fell in love with Meghan, Prince Harry has gone from Superman to the Joker”.
Indeed, the British press has gone to town on the couple, hellbent on publishing as many stories on the soon-to-be-exiled royal couple as possible.
Whether it be Prince Harry and David Beckham reportedly “falling out” over reports Victoria Beckham “leaked” stories on Meghan to the press, or Prince Harry’s pitch to the boss of Disney to give his wife some work.
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Then there’s the father of a British soldier who said the prince is “abandoning” his army mates for a new life. Or former “friends” of the couple spilling the beans to anyone who’ll listen, like Meghan’s former business manager declaring the former actor was on “a mission to rule the world”.
Meghan has also been accused of “demanding” behaviour and vilified over “ditching” her family who, it must be said, haven’t been shy in selling – and telling – their stories to anyone who’ll listen.
Some reports have even suggested the couple will remain in Canada and not move to Meghan’s native America while Donald Trump remains president.
So if this is the way life out of the spotlight has begun for the royal couple, a quiet life in Canada might not be in the cards.
Originally published as Harry, Meghan’s war on the media could backfire
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