A group of female MPs in the UK have written to Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex to solidarize with her against “colonial” media coverage. The letter signed by the cross-party MPs numbering 72, said: “It cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.” “With this in mind we expect the national media to have the integrity to know when a story is in the national interest, and when it is seeking to tear a woman down for no apparent reason,” the MPs said.
“You have our assurances that we stand with you in solidarity on this.”
It would be recalled Markle and her husband Prince Harry announced legal action against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday for publishing a handwritten letter she had written to her estranged father.
Harry disclosed the unusual decision on Tuesday, October 1 in an emotional release in which he bemoaned what he called a “ruthless campaign” that had escalated over the past year throughout Meghan’s pregnancy and “while raising our newborn son.”
“There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face – as so many of you can relate to – I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been,” Harry said.
Women MPs from all political parties have put aside our differences to stand in solidarity with the Duchess of Sussex today and are sending her this open letter. pic.twitter.com/ytLHG5qPf4
— Holly Lynch MP (@HollyLynch5) October 29, 2019
Meghan has been a constant target of the British tabloid’s vitriolic racist and inaccurate reportage and Harry feared history would repeat itself if they watched unconcerned – invoking the grisly reportage his mother Princess Diana suffered in the hands of the tabloid press and paparazzi.
“Up to now, we have been unable to correct the continual misrepresentations – something that these select media outlets have been aware of and have therefore exploited on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.
“It is, for this reason, we are taking legal action, a process that has been many months in the making,” Harry said in the lengthy release.
The MPs in their letter pledged to deploy the “means at our disposal” to protect the privacy of Meghan who’s in American and married to one of the Princes of the UK.
“As women MPs of all political persuasions, we wanted to express our solidarity with you in taking a stand against the often distasteful and misleading nature of the stories printed in a number of our national newspapers concerning you, your character and your family.
“On occasions, stories and headlines have represented an invasion of your privacy and have sought to cast aspersions about your character, without any good reason as far as we can see.
“Even more concerning still, we are calling out what can only be described as outdated, colonial undertones to some of these stories.
“As women Members of Parliament from all backgrounds, we stand with you in saying it cannot be allowed to go unchallenged,” the MPs said.
The letter followed an emotional ITV documentary last week in which Meghan opened up about how the treatment from certain quarters of the British media has affected her.
The Duchess of Sussex explained that “it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes” when she was asked how she was dealing with the pressures of motherhood and the tabloids.
She said to interviewer Tom Bradby: “Any woman, especially when they are pregnant, you’re really vulnerable… And then when you have a newborn, you know…”
Markle added: “…And also, thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I am okay”. When Bradby enquired if it would be fair to say she’s not been okay, Markle replied, “Yes”.
Meanwhile, Talk show host, Wendy Williams, lashed out at the Duchess of Sussex for her comments in the ITV film.
For Williams, she saw no reason why Meghan is surprised about her treatment by the British Tabloids. “Of course, because you’re now a royal. They weren’t following you when you were on ‘Suits,’ we didn’t even know who you were except when you came for employment here at Wendy and wanted to be one of our runway models,” she said.
