I applaud Harry for taking the action he believes is right instead of the one he believes is easy. I specifically single out Harry here because he represents this "right rather than easy" as his own thoughts, rather than those of his wife Meghan. I wish to applaud her too if these are her feelings.
I wish this statement by Harry had omitted two things: the reference to his son, and the reference to his mother. The reference to his son was, in my opinion, not relevant in the way it was used. It felt it was added in as "this all happened while she was pregnant and a new mother," and if these allegations are true, they should not have occurred whether Meghan was pregnant or a new mother or not. Period. This treatment was not inappropriate because of her status as a pregnant woman or a mother, it was inappropriate because of her status as a human being. As for the reference to his mother, not only is everyone aware of what happened, but no other individual would get away with saying they are launching a legal action because they lost a family member when something similar happened. It would, and should, be set aside as irrelevant. I am sure my feelings on this will not be popular.
I would have to take issue with you in both cases:
Megan was mercilessly harassed in every ugly way during her pregnancy. My three older sisters were incredibly sensitive when they were pregnant. Those "it's okay for being pregnant" style of comments were incredibly good at undermining their confidence and were emotional grenades on a hormonal woman. In Meghan's case, they were not even true.
But my top of the hit parade was the kerfuffle about how inept and just plain useless Meghan was because she didn't even know how to hold her own baby! There is nobody more vulnerable than a new, first-time mother, a woman filled with a sense of her own inadequacies which is rubbish but when you are a sleep-deprived new mother those sorts of comments are designed to hurt and they even got experts in to evaluate her body language. What's the stance for "I'd like to wring the neck of every journo and faux expert marriage, motherhood and raising children"?
As to the reference to his mother, that is very pertinent. She lived the best and worst of the Media storm and he and William, as vulnerable children, lived it with her. They saw the pain it caused their mother on a continual basis. Story after story, week after week, and then they got teased at school about the latest "scandal". Those were not happy days because neither knew how to rescue her.
I would bet my last dollar that Harry would never, in his wildest nightmares, believe that as a grown man, a husband and father, he would be in the exact same position, seeing his beloved wife abused by the media and being unable to do much if anything.
“The Queen and the Prince of Wales are understood to have been “informed” about the statement, which was circulated last night. The Duke has spoken with his grandmother, a source said.”
Via The Telegraph
Falls short of saying it was approved by the higher-ups. Sounds like they were told about it after the fact.
Since the Sussexes have moved their offices to BP they have become quite proactive about making complaints and subsequent wins spurred on by Charles, Andrew and William who have all sued both newspapers and broadcasters, I think the Sussexes have the support of the Queen and Charles.
I believe that they always meant to take legal action, but on advice of counsel were biding their time and waited until they had enough evidence to support their claims and ensure their best chance of a verdict in their favor.
As bad as we think things are, the British tabloid press can always dig a new bottom.
