Has newly-minted British princess Meghan Markle been “portrayed unfairly” by members of the press? Oprah Winfrey seems to think so, according to HuffPost.
Speaking on “CBS This Morning” Wednesday, Oprah said that the press has not given Markle a fair shake by often portraying her as an opportunist using the royal family to advance her profile.
“I think she’s being portrayed unfairly,” Winfrey told Gayle King. “I feel that if people really knew her, they would know that she is not only everything you perceive her as being ― graceful and dynamic in holding that position ― but that she just has a wonderful warm, giving, funny heart.”
“I see all the crazy press around her, and I think it’s really unfair,” added Winfrey.
Despite the bad press, Oprah says Markle hasn’t read or seen any of it. “She does not read anything, and I think that’s remarkable,” she said.
Most recently, the British royal family had to publish a set of social media community guidelines to filter out racist, abusive, sexist attacks on the princess. From Insider:
The British royal family published a set of “Social Media Community Guidelines” after both Kensington Palace and Instagram had to step in over angry, racist comments being posted about Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton.
Comments on what Markle and Middleton wear, where they come from, and their appearances frequently appear under posts on Kensington Palace’s Twitter and Instagram pages, INSIDER’s Bill Bostock reported in January.
A source told INSIDER that royal staff members have been monitoring comments on Kensington Palace’s Twitter and Instagram pages since they launched.
The tabloid press has often been quick to sensationalize unconfirmed rumors about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s marriage. For instance, as Christmas approached last year, reports surfaced that Prince Harry would be skipping out on the traditional Boxing Day pheasant hunt due to Markle’s animal rights sensibilities. However, when the day finally came, Prince Harry hunted alongside his brother, Prince William, as previously planned. The royal family also denied rumors that Markle disapproved of the event.
Earlier this year, reports surfaced that both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry planned to raise their baby “gender fluid” by avoiding common gender stereotypes.
“Meghan has been talking to some of her friends about the birth and how she and Harry plan to raise their baby,” a source told Vanity Fair at the time. “Her exact word was fluid. She said they plan to raise their child with a fluid approach to gender and they won’t be imposing any stereotypes.”
Kensington Palace later denounced the story as false.
Given that the royal family protocol dictates they neither share political opinions in public nor in private, it is often difficult to decipher whether or not rumors from alleged sources are actually true or are instead sensationalized stories specifically intended to gin up controversy. In July 2018, after Ireland legalized abortion, Irish political leader Catherine Noone said that Markle expressed satisfaction over the vote. Could it have been true? Yes. Could it have been a political leader exploiting the situation for propaganda purposes? Quite possibly.
“A pleasure to meet Prince Harry & the Duchess of Sussex at the British Ambassador’s Residence this evening,” Noone wrote on Twitter at the time. “The Duchess & I had a chat about the recent referendum result. She watched with interest & was pleased to see the result.”
Noone later deleted the post after intense outcry on social media.