Harry, Meghan unhappy with tabloids
Virus peak appears near
LONDON, April 21, (AP): The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they will no longer cooperate with several British tabloid newspapers because of what they call “distorted, false or invasive” stories.
Meghan and Prince Harry have written to the editors of The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror saying they won’t “offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion.” They say stories based on “salacious gossip” have upended the lives of acquaintances and strangers alike.
The letter, released Monday by the couple’s representative, said Harry and Meghan will have “zero engagement” with the newspapers, but says the couple “believe that a free press is a cornerstone to any democracy.”
Harry, who is a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and sixth in line to the British throne, married the American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in May 2018, in a ceremony watched around the world.
The couple later said they found scrutiny by the British media – which they said tipped into harassment – intolerable. Harry has long had an uncomfortable relationship with the media, which he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana. She died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
Harry’s unhappiness with the media increased after he began dating Markle, then the star of TV legal drama “Suits.” In 2016, he accused the media of harassing his then-girlfriend, and criticized “racial undertones” in some coverage of the biracial Markle.
In January, they announced they planned to quit as senior royals, seek financial independence and move to North America. The split became official at the end of March, and the couple are currently in California, where Meghan was raised.
The duchess is suing the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, for invasion of privacy over a 2018 article that included portions of a letter she had written to her father. A hearing in the case is due to be held Friday in a London court.
Meanwhile, government was poised Thursday to extend a nationwide lockdown for several more weeks, as health officials said Britain’s coronavirus outbreak – one of Europe’s worst – is nearing its peak.
Before the official announcement, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “it is too early to make a change” to the lockdown the government ordered on March 23 to slow the spread of the virus. Schools, pubs, restaurants and most shops are closed, and most people are allowed to leave home only for essential errands or exercise. “I understand those who are calling for an end to the lockdown or some kind of exit strategy to start now, but I think it’s just too early for that,” Hancock said.
As of Thursday, 13,729 people have died in U.K. hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus, an increase of 861 from a day earlier. That number still understates the true toll of the pandemic since those figures do not include hundreds, and maybe thousands, of virus-related deaths in nursing homes and other settings.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the U.K. is “probably reaching the peak overall” but that officials are “not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this is now past the peak.” For now, extending the lockdown has wide public and political support. But as other European countries cautiously ease their restrictions, Britain’s Conservative government faces pressure to explain when and how the country will reopen.
The suspension of normal business activity has thrown hundreds of thousands of Britons out of work and sent the economy into a nosedive. The Office for National Statistics said Thursday that a quarter of U.K. businesses had temporarily closed since the lockdown began.
Measures
“We agree the measures need to remain in place, but to maintain morale and hope, people need a sense of what comes next,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party.
In one small sign of movement, fast food chains Pret a Manger, Burger King and KFC said they planned limited takeout reopenings, especially near U.K. hospitals.
The Conservative government’s response to the pandemic has been complicated by the absence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has not returned to work after spending a week in a London hospital being treated for COVID-19. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is filling in while Johnson recuperates, but the government is wary of making big decisions until he is back.
Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, a government adviser, said “significant” social distancing will have to be maintained until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus – a development that could be over a year away.
He said easing restrictions would also require vastly expanded testing for the virus, so that people who are ill, and their contacts, can be isolated or quarantined.
Ferguson said without broad testing “we have relatively little leeway.”
“If we relax measures too much, then we’ll see a resurgence of transmission,” he told the BBC. “What we really need is the ability to put something in their place.” Britain’s government has been criticized for its belated response to the pandemic, including limited testing and delays in getting protective equipment to health care workers.