“This is
a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up
for what is right.”
The above statement was the response of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex
after her win
over a news industry that she says “conditions people to be cruel and rewards
chaos over truth.”
This
has been a big win for the Duchess of Sussex, as the appeal court has upheld
her claim against the Mail on Sunday for publishing parts of a private letter
to her father. It allows her
to put down a strong marker over her privacy – and the slam-dunk ruling allows
her to avoid any awkward cross-examination as a witness.
In this dispute
about the publication of a letter from a daughter to a father, the judges
focused on the letter of the law, rather than other curling issues about the
royals and the media.
The appeal court’s confirmation that this had
been a breach of the duchess’ privacy means that even if her life is
inescapable of public interest, it doesn’t make her public property.
This courtroom
battle will add another layer to Meghan’s complicated relationship with the
British public. The public has its own expectations of royals. They might not
mind titles, but they bridle at entitlement.
YouGov polling
shows a slump in Meghan’s popularity over the past year. In autumn 2020, 40% of
people in this UK tracking survey had a positive opinion of her, but that had
fallen to 28% in autumn 2021, with Prince Andrew the only royal with worse
approval ratings.
But when the YouGov poll is broken down into
age groups the Duchess of Sussex is one of the most popular royals for younger
people, more so than the Duchess of Cambridge or Prince Charles.
There’s a vale
in attitudes towards Meghan and it shows what an asset she could have been to a
royal family needing more diversity and wanting to reach younger generations.
Meghan sharply
divides opinion and even with this legal win that’s likely to continue. Her
supporters will see it as evidence that she really has been unfairly treated by
a hostile press. While her detractors might continue to view the court case
through the prism of a narcissistic attempt to control her image.
There could be a chance to write a new
chapter, more on her own terms. But even though the privacy ruling will be a
warning signal, the media and public interest in this famous couple are not
going to go away.
