With ‘Megxit,’ royal couple aim to control media image
The relationship between Britain’s royals and the media is awkward, mistrustful — and seemingly inescapable.
But now Prince Harry and the former actress Meghan Markle want out.
After years of tension with the British press, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they are also known, have announced plans to quit their senior royal duties, move part time to North America, seek financial independence and withdraw from regular media scrutiny.
The couple — who have complained of intrusive media coverage and accused some British media commentators of racism — slammed the country’s long- standing arrangements for royal media coverage, saying they prefer to communicate directly with the public through social media.
The British press was stung by the snub, reacting Thursday with articles, columns and editorials that ranged from disappointment to fury.
The move dominated the news in Britain.
Queen Elizabeth II moved Thursday to take control of the situation. Britain’s national news agency, Press Association, reported the queen had ordered officials representing the monarch — Charles, Prince William, and Harry and Meghan — to meet and find “workable solutions” within “days not weeks.”
Harry and Meghan’s announcement drew comparisons to the abdication of the queen’s uncle King Edward VIII, who gave up the throne in 1936 so he could marry divorced American Wallis Simpson.
A social media storm compared Meghan to Yoko Ono, the widow of Beatles singer John Lennon, who was blamed for the breakup of the band.
Meghan was raised in Los Angeles, attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, graduating in 2003, and lived in Toronto for several years, where her television series, “Suits,” was filmed.
For decades, the British press has proclaimed its reverence for the queen while treating the travails of her family as fair game.
After Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, the media charted every twist in the marriage: the births of sons William and Harry, Diana’s glamour and charity work, the public crumbling of the relationship.
Charles and Diana both used the media as a weapon as their marriage foundered, giving TV interviews to present themselves in a sympathetic light. But Diana — a global megastar, followed by paparazzi wherever she went — was never fully in control of the media attention. She was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by photographers.
Diana’s death provoked a crisis for the monarchy — which was portrayed as cold at a time of national grief — and for the media, accused of hounding a vulnerable woman.
In the wake of Diana’s death, the palace and the press reached an uneasy truce. The British media left young William and Harry alone in exchange for staged interviews and photo opportunities as they grew up. That practice has continued with the three young children of William and his wife, Kate.
But Harry still blames the media for his mother’s death, and since meeting his wife, he has become less willing to play the game.