As US interview nears, Meghan and Harry won't tango with UK tabloids | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
May 28, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2025
As US interview nears, Meghan and Harry won't tango with UK tabloids

World+Biz

Reuters
03 March, 2021, 05:30 pm
Last modified: 03 March, 2021, 05:34 pm

Related News

  • Trump says he would take 'appropriate action' over Prince Harry visa question
  • Harry, Meghan in 'near catastrophic' NY paparazzi car chase, spokesperson says
  • Prince Harry accuses Camilla of 'dangerous' leaks to media
  • After months of hype, Prince Harry's memoir goes on sale
  • Prince Harry says UK royals got into bed with tabloid press 'devil'

As US interview nears, Meghan and Harry won't tango with UK tabloids

Last month, Meghan successfully sued the Mail on Sunday for breaching her privacy by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her father

Reuters
03 March, 2021, 05:30 pm
Last modified: 03 March, 2021, 05:34 pm
Prince Harry and Meghan. Photo: Collected
Prince Harry and Meghan. Photo: Collected

Britain's Prince Harry and American wife Meghan decided long ago they would not play the traditional royal media "game", and on Sunday they depart from the norms of engagement again with an in-depth interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

Smarting from sometimes critical tabloid headlines and press intrusion in Britain, they have already announced they will step down from official duties, move to California with young son Archie and cut off contact with Britain's biggest tabloids.

Last month, Meghan successfully sued the Mail on Sunday for breaching her privacy by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her father.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

And on Tuesday, the couple issued a statement saying Meghan was "saddened" by a report in The Times broadsheet of a bullying complaint against her, calling it an "attack on her character."

To their supporters, Sunday's televised interview is a chance to set the record straight and lay out their plans for the future. To detractors, it's a sign of hypocrisy.

"They said they were leaving because they wanted privacy. And it seems in the last year that they've done very little other than seek publicity," said royal commentator Penny Junor.

When Harry, 36, and former actress Meghan, 39, married in a glittering ceremony in May 2018, they were feted as global celebrities, merging British royal allure and Hollywood glamour and attracting millions of followers on social media.

But beneath the surface, trouble was brewing. The couple had already complained that some reports about Meghan, whose father is white and mother is African-American, were vindictive or even racist.

VERY REAL SADNESS

Meghan called some media's approach to the British monarchy a "game".

"For these outlets, it's a game. For me and so many others, it's real life, real relationships, and very real sadness," Meghan said after her privacy claim victory. "The damage they have done and continue to do runs deep."

For Harry, it comes back to the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 aged 36 when her limousine crashed as it sped away from chasing paparazzi photographers. He was 12.

"I will not be bullied into playing a game that's killed my mum," Harry told a TV documentary in October 2019, shortly before the announcement they were quitting royal duties. It is a theme he is set to return to in the interview with Winfrey.

"My biggest concern was history repeating itself," he said in a brief excerpt released by CBS.

Last week he told James Corden, British host of the US TV programme "The Late Late Show", that he had left his homeland to escape the "toxic" press which he said was destroying his mental health.

Michelle Tauber, Senior Editor for People magazine, said to be successful in America, where the couple has settled, there needed to be a public sharing of personal triumphs and struggles, while there was also more understanding of their desire for privacy.

"I think Americans in particular are sympathetic to this idea of, it's theirs, it's done on their terms, it's their safe space to share what they want to share with the public," she said of the upcoming interview.

INTENSE SCRUTINY

Most senior members of the House of Windsor have at some stage been criticised and put under intense scrutiny by the media.

While newspapers want more pictures and personal access, the royals seek greater privacy, but also attention for issues close to their hearts. In return for a gilded life funded by the public, they should play along with the press, some critics say.

The tension can boil over. On an annual skiing trip in 2005, Harry's father Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, was caught on a microphone calling reporters "bloody people", and has previously bemoaned being treated as a "performing monkey".

"The royals need publicity and the newspapers, the media needs the family to fill their pages and the programmes. So it's a symbiotic relationship that has worked very well," said Junor.

Harry and Meghan's decision to keep the media at arm's length and try to get their message out directly through social media has led some British papers to become more overtly hostile.

Their recent announcement that Meghan was pregnant with their second child, their final split with the royal family and the upcoming interview have drawn criticism, especially at a time when Harry's grandfather Prince Philip, the queen's 99-year-old husband, is in hospital.

Veteran royal biographer Robert Jobson told MailOnline that it made the couple look "heartless".

Even some of those close to the royals suggest their public roles meant they must accept the enormous press interest, however wearying and frustrating.

"If you step on the pitch, you can't start arguing with the referee," one senior royal aide told Reuters.

Glitz

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Illustration: TBS
    'Where is the transparency in economic activities of this government?' asks Debapriya
  • Infographic: TBS
    Deadlock over key reforms: Is there any solution in sight?
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    Saudi Arabia to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha on 6 June

MOST VIEWED

  • Selim RF Hussain. Sketch: TBS
    BRAC Bank MD Selim RF Hussain resigns
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Depositors need not worry as govt will take over banks before merger: BB governor
  • Graphics: TBS
    Suspicious banking activities surge by 56% since July: Cenbank
  • Photo: Collected
    DU student assaulted for protesting eve-teasing at Chadni Chowk
  • Illustration: TBS
    Bangladesh sees highest-ever per capita income of $2,820 in FY25, BBS provisional data shows
  • Officials protest inside the Secretariat on Tuesday, 27 May 2025, over a government ordinance amending the Public Service Act, 2018. Photo: Rajib Dhar
    Protest at Secretariat suspended as govt assures decision on ordinance tomorrow

Related News

  • Trump says he would take 'appropriate action' over Prince Harry visa question
  • Harry, Meghan in 'near catastrophic' NY paparazzi car chase, spokesperson says
  • Prince Harry accuses Camilla of 'dangerous' leaks to media
  • After months of hype, Prince Harry's memoir goes on sale
  • Prince Harry says UK royals got into bed with tabloid press 'devil'

Features

In recent years, the Gor-e-Shaheed Eidgah has emerged as a strong contender for the crown of the biggest Eid congregation in the country, having hosted 600,000 worshippers in 2017. Photo: TBS

Gor-e-Shaheed Boro Maath: The heart of Dinajpur

1d | Panorama
The Hili Land Port, officially opened in 1997 but with trade roots stretching back to before Partition, has grown into a cornerstone of bilateral commerce.

Dhaka-Delhi tensions ripple across Hili’s markets and livelihoods

2d | Panorama
Photo: Collected

Desk goals: Affordable ways to elevate your study setup

2d | Brands
Built on a diamond-type frame, the Hornet 2.0 is agile but grounded. PHOTO: Asif Chowdhury

Honda Hornet 2.0: Same spirit, upgraded sting

2d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

Trump delays 50% tariffs on EU goods

Trump delays 50% tariffs on EU goods

7h | Others
Eid may be celebrated in Bangladesh on June 7

Eid may be celebrated in Bangladesh on June 7

7h | TBS Today
TSMC begins construction on US semiconductor plant

TSMC begins construction on US semiconductor plant

8h | Others
Trump's tariff policy shock: US dollar dominance under threat

Trump's tariff policy shock: US dollar dominance under threat

10h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net