MANDEL: Meghan vs The Firm
TVs around the world will be tuned to Oprah Winfrey's interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Sunday
Author of the article:Michele Mandel
Publishing date:Mar 06, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 3 minute read • comment bubble10 Comments
In this file photo taken on March 12, 2018 Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee US actress Meghan Markle attend a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in central London, on March 12, 2018.
In this file photo taken on March 12, 2018 Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee US actress Meghan Markle attend a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in central London, on March 12, 2018. PHOTO BY DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS /AFP via Getty Images
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The knives are re-sharpened, the royal courtiers are gnashing teeth dripping in vitriol as yet another defiant wife of a prince prepares to break protocol and speak her truth.
Almost 30 years after their bullying of Princess Diana, nothing much has changed with The Firm.
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Around the world Sunday, TVs will be tuned to Oprah Winfrey’s CBS interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the royal couple in exile.
Leading up to highly anticipated exclusive, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been trashed across the pond for a long list of sins: Once again breaking the rule of Thou Shalt Not Speak; spilling their discontent about the royal family while its patriarch is ailing in the hospital; and, of course, going Hollywood when their duty is back home.
But the real object of anger remains the American divorcee they blame for romancing the Spare away.
Ever since she dared to wed the dashing duke, Meghan has been pilloried by the toxic British tabloids — how dare a biracial American TV actress think she could take her place in the royal family?
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The voracious venom was “almost unsurvivable,” she has said.
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In this file photo taken on June 09, 2018 Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex return in a horse-drawn carriage after attending the Queen's Birthday Parade, 'Trooping the Colour' on Horseguards parade in London.
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor during their royal tour of South Africa on September 25, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.
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But it was eagerly fanned by whispering royal aides threatened by a strong, independent woman of colour who refused to submit silently to the traditional royal machine.
So while the British media waged its merciless character assassination, Buckingham Palace left her to fend for herself.
The tabloid scrutiny was, and still is, relentless — nothing sells like another Meghan story. Nothing is off limits, not even a deeply personal letter she’d sent her father with handwriting experts brought in to weigh in on her tell-tale “narcissism.”
Yet a royal who truly deserves the barrage of abuse heaped on Meghan remains safely ensconced within the bosom of The Firm. No palace courtiers are busy leaking gossip about Prince Andrew, an accused pedophile who refuses to speak to the FBI.
Instead, they snipe about Meghan sharing her miscarriage heartbreak as a publicity stunt. No wonder she and her protective husband walked away from it all last year.
Now, just days before broadcast of the big Oprah interview where the Sussexes explain their controversial decision for the first time, the Palace decides to announce an investigation into allegations by former staff that Meghan bullied them — three years ago.
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Ah, the suspicious timing.
And where is the palace investigation into Prince Andrew’s links to his late Lolita-loving buddy Jeffrey Epstein?
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Before her blind date with a Prince on July 1, 2016, Meghan was best known for her part in the Toronto-filmed series Suits. Patrick Adams came out Friday with an impassioned defence of his former co-star, describing her as a kind, powerful woman with a deep sense of morality and fierce work ethic.
“It sickened me to read the endless racist, slanderous, clickbaiting vitriol spewed in her direction from all manner of media across the UK and the world but I also knew that Meghan was stronger than people realized or understood and they would regret underestimating her,” he wrote.
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“It’s OBSCENE that the Royal Family, who’s newest member is currently GROWING INSIDE OF HER, is promoting and amplifying accusations of ‘bullying’ against a woman who herself was basically forced to flea (sic) the UK in order protect her family and her own mental health.”
Meghan and Harry want to tell their side of the story — just as Harry’s mother tried to do back in 1995. For that protocol-breaking tell-all TV interview, Princess Diana would be cut off by the royal family and hounded to her grave.
The Firm won that battle. We can only hope this one ends differently.
mmandel@postmedia.com
Royal courtiers are gnashing teeth dripping in vitriol as another defiant wife of a prince prepares to break protocol and speak her truth.
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