Smear campaign? And if so, by whom?

[Elspeth]

The Daily Mail seems to have written quite a few articles now on the subject of Kate Middleton not having a job, not having a good enough family (her parents and siblings apparently being disgraces to humanity if you believe some of these reports), being so lazy that the Queen has intervened to suggest she get off her backside and do charity work, spending her whole life shopping and partying and goodness knows what else. If Kate doesn't have a job, she should get one. If she does get one, it isn't good enough or it somehow doesn't count or there's something wrong with it. If she goes to parties she's a shallow parasite; if she doesn't, she's a surly brat. Their real tour de force came last week with an article quoting some members of another royalty forum who'd made negative comments on threads there and claiming that this showed there was a smear campaign against Kate going on by members of the public and royalty discussion forums. To say nothing about the little comment that the details in those threads suggested that the people posting actually knew the Middleton siblings (thus giving readers the impression that these would be insider comments without actually saying so).

Seems to me, reading that article and various others from the Mail, that if there's any smear campaign going on it's originating at the newspapers, not in the country at large or on discussion forums. I'm just wondering, especially after the Mail led that crusade to stop Camilla going to Diana's memorial service last year, whether there's something more going on than just whipping up public interest in order to sell more papers. After undermining Charles and Camilla, the tabloids seem to be starting in on William and Kate. I know Rupert Murdoch is a republican, but he doesn't own the Mail; however, I think some of these articles are beginning to get to the point of playing with fire as far as the royals are concerned.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on whether all this sleaze and venom is just tabloid reporting at its most unpalatable or whether there's a more sinister agenda behind it?