By
Maria Chang
The press has spoken and has decided that Prince Harry is delusional and not of sound mind, he’s overreacting and seeing slights when there are none. They have decided the problem isn’t with the press, it is the hot-headed, unhinged Prince making a “monumental misjudgment”.
After three years of unrelenting harassment by the press, harassment which was amplified all through her pregnancy and maternity leave, Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex filed a lawsuit against the Daily Mail and its parent company. The lawsuit was over the publication of a private letter, with the publication accused of infringement of copyright and violations of the Data Protection Act. The notice was posted on the Duke and Duchess’s website along with a statement by the Duke. It was a heartfelt, empathetic statement. Prince Harry expressed concern that the media’s unfair treatment of his wife, so reminiscent of the way his mother was treated, could lead his wife to a similar end as his mother. Those who saw it can never forget the sight of a little boy walking behind his mother’s coffin, his face stoic, his pain palpable and his bewilderment heartbreaking.
His belief that the media contributed to his mother’s death was not the fanciful belief of a child; the editors of the major tabloids all admitted that their behavior contributed to Princess Diana’s death. She was newspaper fodder, her every action photographed and scrutinized, written about and analyzed. Just as his feelings about his mother being commoditized were valid, so too are his feelings that his wife is being subjected to a similar treatment. The newspapers may not wish to admit this, but it is self-evident. There has not been a day where all the tabloids have not had several stories about The Duchess of Sussex. Outside of their engagements the stories make scurrilous claims about her actions and subject her to unrealistic expectations where, even when she meets those expectations, her accomplishments are dismissed or minimized.
Immediately after their wedding, there was public debate about whether the Duchess was too old to get pregnant, and when her pregnancy was announced, the media seemed almost gleeful in pronouncing it a geriatric pregnancy fraught with danger to mother and the baby. Given this, the expectation was that the tabloid harassment would abate, even temporarily. That hope was never realized. While other royal brides have been given a reprieve from the incessant and mean-spirited tabloid scrutiny during their pregnancy such a privilege was not afforded to Duchess Meghan. The very actions for which others had been admired or viewed with indulgence, Duchess Meghan was mocked and questioned.
Given all that has transpired, Prince Harry’s heartfelt statement that accompanied the notice of Duchess Meghan’s lawsuit was understandable. With an economy of words, he succinctly, candidly, evocatively, and with precision laid out a damning indictment of the British media’s coverage of the Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry was lauded for his candor and clarity, by everyone, except the perpetrators. Their resistance in admitting complicity was excepted, but their method of attack was unconscionable.
Imagine how diabolical, you as the perpetrator of the campaign of harassment, have to be, to not only cruelly dismiss Prince Harry’s concern, but questioning his mental state. The tabloids called on the usual suspects (Ken Wharf, Piers Morgan, Penny Junor, Ingrid Seward, Rihannon Mills …) to weigh in on his action and they delivered with their usual innuendo-laden diatribe. Doctors none, but they ALL questioned his mental stability and demeaned and diminished his justified concerns. We mentioned here as soon as the lawsuit was announced they started questioning his mental health. They dismissed his comparison between his wife and mother but then engaged in revisionist history by telling him he needs to be more like his mother who cooperated with the press and received favorable treatment in return.
Questioning someone’s mental state is the favorite tactic of those without a valid argument for their actions. The damage in weaponizing mental health was insidious and could have far-reaching consequences far beyond Prince Harry. Prince Harry has openly shared his personal struggles in coping with the horrific death of his mother when he was 12 years old and his attempt to adjust to civilian life after ten years in the military. He sought help for himself and found solace and a purpose. Determined to reduce the stigma of mental health he founded Heads Together through the Royal Foundation he started with his brother.
With first-hand knowledge of the toll mental illness takes on his fellow veterans, Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games open to military veterans from countries around the world. UK Ministry Defense does not keep official records of veterans who commit suicides, but an unofficial tally says over 75 veterans committed suicide in 2018 due to some form of mental illness. In the US, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ figures show an average of 20 veterans per day take their own lives.
Editors Note: If you feel overwhelmed and need someone to talk to please contact a professional don’t make permanent decisions for temporary situations.
Imagine being a person struggling with your own mental health, hesitant to seek help and witnessing a champion of reducing the stigma, someone at Prince Harry’s level, being labeled unhinged and publicly shamed. How would you feel?
As they have in their treatment of Duchess Meghan, the tabloids, in their response to Prince Harry’s statement shows there are no depths to which they will not sink in a quest to not only capitalize on the demand of the couple but to rob them of their humanity and deny them the privilege of keeping their private life, private.
The UK press are beasts in human form. Their insides must be hollow.
Uum i detect gaslighting, there’re times when one has no comment like as per these gossipers saying Harry is unhinged is so heartless, i don’t know what to think of them, how can they be so unfeeling? the devils, so funny yet disturbing as one aged gossiper even suggested Meghan to embrace her enemies imagine that, i’m wondering how did she become enemies with these gossipers is it by marrying a Brit prince or being highly intelligent, humanitarian, American, former actress, producing an adorable baby boy, being loved by her man etc etc qualify to be so!? these people must have gone mad with their envy & jealousy.
Prince Harry attempted civilness without the courts but media prefers a public brawl. It sells papers!
The British people and surrounding areas need to stop supporting the papers and the sponsors of those media outlets. Do not purchase products that the media advertise in the paper or during their commercials.
All people need to stand up to “bullies”!
Every family has been affected via personal, friend, child, classmate, work, school, spouse, abuser, neighbor!
Stand and support the Duke and Duchess of Sussex!
Enough is Enough!
Prince Harry is fighting as he vowed on his wedding day to protect his wife. He loves his family his wife and son. Shame on the media to slander and attempt to shame him.
It’s funny how we have seminars encouraging people to think big, not be defined by their beginnings or backgrounds, do good. Yet when a person rises from a challenging past or family, they try to remind them that they cannot do better because of where they have come from or the troubles they have faced; and scrutinize every good act for flaws. When people call out their inhumane and shameless behaviour, they try to shame the people into silence.
They ask Harry to corporate like his mother, how did that end? Their evil must bow to the good intentions of the DDoS.
The attack on Duchess Meghan during her pregnancy, supported by fellow women journos is disgusting.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not just representing themselves but also standing for those who are presently being intimidated and misrepresented by these lying rags and those who will become known in the future that these prints will start attacking their lives in future. So if you are thinking big, HM are already fighting part of your battle with you.
I hope that in their website in future they will have articles on their different highlights and on topics that redirects the global discussion on the real topics from the distraction tactics of the rag prints.
The Royal gossipers have gone too far. They think they have a right to know what goes on in their private life. It’s up to them when we see Archie. The public has no say in how the Duchess interacts with her father. They are not entitled to a visit to Frogmore Cottage.
To insinuate that the Duke is unhinged is downright wrong and cruel. Diana talked to them and they still stalked her. His statement was very measured in spelling out how painful this experience has been.
Hit dogs holler and the gossipers were hit hard.
When the truth hits the enemies where it hurts their mode of attack is to become nasty and vicious. Although sad this very weapon of attack would backfire with a deadly force. I do believe the Sussexes knew it would become nasty hence the reason of them wanting us to be there for them during this testing time. I hope that all his pals before and after him being a family man, they all gather around him, Meghan and Archie. I hope the Obama’s are in contact with them. I hope media outside Britain turn their cameras on Britain and exposes it for what it is. All this because Harry’s wife doesn’t fit the mould of an English rose and not confirming to British ways and the list goes on. Racism on steroids. The Sussexes accusers are the sick one, not Harry.
“Righteous indignation (or righteous anger) is a reactive emotion to being mistreated and abused. It’s a natural response to a situation of injustice. Narcissists, however, see this righteous indignation as a vulnerability. Narcissists of all kinds will try to gaslight you by rewriting your righteous anger as irrationality. The truth is, you aren’t being irrational, and your anger is entirely justified.
The narcissist is merely reframing your righteous anger as baseless reaction. It’s an important tool abusers use to normalize their own narcissistic rage and abuse while discrediting your genuine grievances. Anger is a completely normal reaction to injustice.”