Seen across the lake, it was simply surreal – the sixth in line for the British throne in a revealing interview with Oprah Winfrey, even showing off his pet chickens. His wife told how real life led her to think about suicide and said that at least one member of the royal family raised “concerns” about her son’s skin color.
But another revelation received less attention: Harry’s claim that his family is afraid of the powerful British tabloids. He described to Winfrey “what is termed or referred to as the ‘invisible contract’ behind closed doors, between the institution and the tabloids, tabloids in the United Kingdom”.
As well? “Well, for the sake of simplicity, it is the case that if you as a family member are willing to have wine, dinner and give these reporters full access, then you will have a better press,” he said. “It is really a trap environment.”
Tabloids dominate British public life, shaping public opinion and giving its owners a breathtaking influence.
“When the tabloids decide that your time has come, you are fried,” said James O’Brien, a radio announcer who likes to step into the shoes of the British establishment.
Correspondent Holly Williams asked, “How powerful are British tabloids?”
“Their power is almost absolute,” replied O’Brien. “They put prime ministers at the height of power. And they run the mother of all popularity contests.”
“Are they politically king-makers?”
“Wow, without a doubt.”
The tabloids love the royal family because its glamor and scandals sell newspapers – and the royal family needs positive coverage to justify its existence, partially paid for by the British taxpayer.
O’Brien said, “They are birds in a golden cage, and if they make an enemy of the tabloids, the tabloids don’t stop writing about it, they just stop writing the good stuff.”
All royals face criticism from the tabloids and, at times, harassment. Even the queen was accused of not showing enough compassion after Princess Diana’s death. But there was a racial element in the coverage of the Duchess of Sussex, part of it blatant.
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“I accept that the institution would be foreign to her,” said Kelvin MacKenzie, who used to be the editor of one of Britain’s best-selling tabloids, The Sun. He said it was not the race, but Meghan’s behavior that the made it unpopular. On the one hand, he told Williams, royalty should be non-political, and she was very stubborn.
He said, “I think we have now reached a point where people don’t want to read good news about Meghan.”
“So, is she so unpopular that the tabloid media knows that people just want to hear negative things about her?” asked Williams.
“They just want bad news.”
“So, do they give it to the public?”
“Give it to them, yes.”
Others here believe that, consciously or not, British tabloids – and parts of the British establishment – could not accept a biracial American at the height of the British class system.
Dawn Butler, a member of Parliament, said of the tabloids: “I think they showed their true colors. They showed that they have a bias and showed that they are racist in their reporting, we know that.”
Williams asked, “Why did they go after her?”
“Because they can,” she replied. “The tabloid press hunts us all.”
Butler told us that she herself was intimidated by the tabloids. Most worrying, she said, is Meghan’s claim that the palace did not defend her when false stories were published, including that she made her sister-in-law Kate cry.
Butler said, “Was the relationship between the two institutions so close that, instead of telling the truth, they decided to perpetuate the lie?”
The Duchess now admits that when she married her fairytale prince, she did not understand the institution she was getting married in, or her complicated connection with the tabloid media.
According to James O’Brien, “You must know your place. People who refuse to recognize your place, [or] they don’t know their place, I think it’s a bit like painting a target on the back. “
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Story produced by Erin Lyall. Editor: Mark Ludlow.