Harry & Meghan: Legal Actions against the Media

[poppy7]

Originally Posted by Elenath

So.. these gossip rags attacked his wife, Harry didn't like so he let them feel it, but it's all Harry's fault. He's the one that changed. See, this is the thing I don't get. None of us would accept it it were someone we loved, but too many people here expect any member of the BRF to just "put up with it". "Putting up with it" always helps the bully.

The gossip rags are pissed of because their victim doesn't want to be bullied and fights back. Perhaps if they had not bullied Meghan (and Harry) he'd still talk to them and none of this would have happened. This ganging up of a number of mags/papers on certain people is just so wrong I'm surprised so many people find it acceptable.

A chat on endemic sexism is beyond this. But I was answering a question on when he stopped talking to the media. Unfortunately for them. The treating the media bay actually predated the all out dislike of Meghan...again a show of sexism I am sure. It did come after the Daddy markle stuff though.

Meghan doesn't matter to the British media. Harry does. They loved Harry and Harry changed so they blamed the wife. And if that isn't a tale of our times.

Originally Posted by BaiSoSo

I didn't say the BBC was a liar (although they maybe). I noted they take lies from the newspapers and talk about them at nausea. As for the Telegraph, they wrote a hit piece on Meghan when the Together Cookbook came out, one with a headline "Meghan's Mosque" Meghan doesn't own a Mosque nor does she attend one for religious purposes. Then the article went on to say that by helping the Hubb women in a kitchen attached to the mosque she is tied to terrorism.



Lack of education? Just because one doesn't go to University/College doesn't mean they lack education. I bet Harry learned skills/information in the military that some with degrees don't know/have. (Strategy, Teamwork, Research, Planning just to name a few).

None of that has anything to do with a lawsuit holding the media accountable for their actions. The Sussexes took it seriously because it is their lives. It is easy to sit back and say just take it when you aren't one being impacted by the lies and harassment. They have worked hard on behalf of UK/Commonwealth people and even others around the world and for the unethical media to come in and try to destroy is wrong and the Sussexes have a right to hold them accountable.

The Telegraph is a very well respected, conservative, paper. Just because they wrote a hit piece does not change that. Everyone thinks their point of view is right one.

And Harry is under educated. He has lots of smarts and talents and capabilities but school wasn't his thing and neither really is this. Harry and Meghan were treated positively always in the UK. People were excited to see them. They were doing great work and he let the media destroy that. He is obsessed with the media and he let a demon that needed to be managed control him. He was loved and people genuinely cared about him. As much as they care about public people and now it's gone for him really. But public love is empty. I just feel sorry for him. Little by little things will just change. People won't call back, there will be less to do. Because at the end of it he is just like them all, even his grandmother. An average human, not particularly clever or talented, who was made extradinary because of an accident of birth.

[ACO]

People wanted them gone. Now they are. I remember some of the royal correspondents threatening to not cover them after Archie was born. Well now they no longer need to. Simple. They made that decision for you.

These lawsuits are what they feel is needed. That is their right and the court will decide one way or another. Come spring they will no longer be working members of the BRF. And everyone will start their new journeys.

Seems they all already have anyways. Now it is just technicalities left. This lawsuit with MoS will likely heat up in the summer time. Probably over by the fall. But we shall see.

[QueenMathilde]

Well I've already said - Tom Cruise sued everyone in sight and it didn't work out for him. Sorry, he's the first person that pops into my mind when I read this.


Diana divorced Charles and they hounded her harder. And they weren't nice to Fergie either.


As for the media there are hoards of social media sites where they say all sorts of horrible things about these two. Things I wouldn't post here.



So it's not just the media. Nowadays it's individual people on twitter and Instagram who put up all sorts of terrible things.


You can't sue them all.

[ACO]

They not suing them all. They suing two for very specific reasons. It doesn't matter what people on these boards say. We all have opinions but we not break a law. These papers potentially are therefore it is their place to prove their case.

Simple as that. Either they will win it or they won't.

[Helen.CH]

Originally Posted by poppy7

The Telegraph is a very well respected, conservative, paper. Just because they wrote a hit piece does not change that. Everyone thinks their point of view is right one.

And Harry is under educated. He has lots of smarts and talents and capabilities but school wasn't his thing and neither really is this. Harry and Meghan were treated positively always in the UK. People were excited to see them. They were doing great work and he let the media destroy that. He is obsessed with the media and he let a demon that needed to be managed control him. He was loved and people genuinely cared about him. As much as they care about public people and now it's gone for him really. But public love is empty. I just feel sorry for him. Little by little things will just change. People won't call back, there will be less to do. Because at the end of it he is just like them all, even his grandmother. An average human, not particularly clever or talented, who was made extradinary because of an accident of birth.

Exactly! And when I said lack of eduction not only academic education was on my mind,
the way those two acted shows clearly there are deficits.
And though I like HM , a lot of things that occured during decades base on the faults she& Philip made starting with the upbringing...... afterwards handling persons and challenges inside the RF, showing a certain unawareness .....
sad but true and this "example" is somehow outstanding in its negativity compared to other royal houses.

[Alison H]

There was some old footage on TV the other day of Harry just after he came out of the Army, showing how brilliant he was with injured service personnel, and also with young children. It made me feel quite sad. That accident of birth that makes you royal gives you the chance to do great things. The same with someone who marries royalty: I was not a fan of Diana, but she did some wonderful things, notably making people realise that you couldn't contract HIV the way you catch a cold. Harry could have done so much, but he's chosen not to.

[Hallo girl]

Originally Posted by QueenMathilde

Well I've already said - Tom Cruise sued everyone in sight and it didn't work out for him. Sorry, he's the first person that pops into my mind when I read this.


Diana divorced Charles and they hounded her harder. And they weren't nice to Fergie either.


As for the media there are hoards of social media sites where they say all sorts of horrible things about these two. Things I wouldn't post here.



So it's not just the media. Nowadays it's individual people on twitter and Instagram who put up all sorts of terrible things.


You can't sue them all.

That is so true, if the law is ever changed re social media, a great deal of people will need to watch out. There has been more nastiness, sexism, racism and everything else across social media than there has ever been in print.

I am not going in to the specifics of the case but one you go down the road of denying a specific story or threatening to sue you have to watch, because you then set a precedence.

There was criticism that the palace did not deny certain stories or offer support when stories were printed, the problem is you deny everything or nothing. If you are selective in what you deny it then raises a question mark against the story not denied.

[Hallo girl]

Originally Posted by Helen.CH

Exactly! And when I said lack of eduction not only academic education was on my mind,
the way those two acted shows clearly there are deficits.
And though I like HM , a lot of things that occured during decades base on the faults she& Philip made starting with the upbringing...... afterwards handling persons and challenges inside the RF, showing a certain unawareness .....
sad but true and this "example" is somehow outstanding in its negativity compared to other royal houses.

There are times when common sense and experience can out weigh a university degree.

Times change, how children are brought up changes, it has nothing to do with education or lack of. Whether you agree or disagree with the actions of the queen over the years or with H & M, her majesty put duty first. She has served this country all her life, she knew from a young age she would probably be queen, she was crowned in her twenties.
I am also of the opinion that is why she allowed William and Kate time in the early days free of duties to build their family life, something she missed out on I am sure H & M would have been given the same opportunities if they had wished.

[QueenMathilde]

Originally Posted by ACO

They not suing them all. They suing two for very specific reasons. It doesn't matter what people on these boards say. We all have opinions but we not break a law. These papers potentially are therefore it is their place to prove their case.

Simple as that. Either they will win it or they won't.

Well with one she's basically suing her own father. No way to do that and come out ahead. And the letter didn't say anything that made her look bad that I could see.


I actually thought the letter made her look good. She's criticized for not reaching out to him and she clearly did at one point if she wrote that letter.

[Helen.CH]

Originally Posted by Hallo girl

That is so true, if the law is ever changed re social media, a great deal of people will need to watch out. There has been more nastiness, sexism, racism and everything else across social media than there has ever been in print.

I am not going in to the specifics of the case but one you go down the road of denying a specific story or threatening to sue you have to watch, because you then set a precedence.

There was criticism that the palace did not deny certain stories or offer support when stories were printed, the problem is you deny everything or nothing. If you are selective in what you deny it then raises a question mark against the story not denied.

That is what I asked and mentioned before, there is hardly much done in the UK,
that is both a question of constitution, law, sense of privacy and especially the press code is" nothing" compared to other countries.
But still then I wonder why H&M take these tabloids so serious... we will see, at least at the moment they seem to hide which I think is a good thing, first think then act;-)

[QueenMathilde]

Originally Posted by Helen.CH

That is what I asked and mentioned before, there is hardly much done in the UK,
that is both a question of constitution, law, sense of privacy and especially the press code is" nothing" compared to other countries.
But still then I wonder why H&M take these tabloids so serious... we will see, at least at the moment they seem to hide which I think is a good thing, first think then act;-)

Actually I was under the impression that they could charge you with a crime if you spread hate on social media in the UK. I keep reading that. Or for that matter France. I keep reading that too.


To my knowledge you can't in the US. Or Canada though Canada has "hate speech" laws that might cover it. Someone from Canada would have to tell you.



What I read about them on social media ( mainly Twitter) is far worse than anything the tabloids come up with. Mainly because papers are still vetted and social media isn't.


I still think they'd do better to just ignore the media but others have good points when they give reasons for lawsuits.

Originally Posted by ACO

People wanted them gone. Now they are. I remember some of the royal correspondents threatening to not cover them after Archie was born. Well now they no longer need to. Simple. They made that decision for you.

These lawsuits are what they feel is needed. That is their right and the court will decide one way or another. Come spring they will no longer be working members of the BRF. And everyone will start their new journeys.

Seems they all already have anyways. Now it is just technicalities left. This lawsuit with MoS will likely heat up in the summer time. Probably over by the fall. But we shall see.

Not so simple. They're still celebrities like Diana was. And the media didn't go away when Diana got divorced. They got worse.


Plus they're in a no win situation. They need the media because they need to promote their various projects. As Diana learned you can't just call the media when you want good publicity then demand they go away when they give you bad publicity.


They would have been shielded more as members of the royal family. As celebrities with titles no one is protecting them.

[BaiSoSo]

Originally Posted by QueenMathilde

Well with one she's basically suing her own father. No way to do that and come out ahead. And the letter didn't say anything that made her look bad that I could see.


I actually thought the letter made her look good. She's criticized for not reaching out to him and she clearly did at one point if she wrote that letter.

She isn't suing her father...he could give the letter to anyone he wanted including the MOS. She is suing the MOS for PUBLISHING the letter without her permission which is a copyright infringement. They did it because it would gave them more clicks and they didn't think anyone would fight back. The MOS is including her father as a way to intimidate her and getting her to drop the lawsuit. Her father is in it just for the money.

The letter never would have been mentioned if her father hadn't continued to lie saying that she had not contacted him since the wedding. Notice no one else published the letter they just referred to it, which the MOS could have done as well.

Originally Posted by QueenMathilde

Not so simple. They're still celebrities like Diana was. And the media didn't go away when Diana got divorced. They got worse.


Plus they're in a no win situation. They need the media because they need to promote their various projects. As Diana learned you can't just call the media when you want good publicity then demand they go away when they give you bad publicity.


They would have been shielded more as members of the royal family. As celebrities with titles no one is protecting them.

Times are a little bit different than Diana's era and luckily there are more laws available...the media just has to be held accountable, which is what they are trying to do. Also by not being working royals they don't have to use the royal rota which was out to harm them, they have the freedom & flexibility to promote their projects through healthy media outlets as well as their own social media.

The Sussexes were not being shielded as members of the royal family, they were being used as the scapegoats for the rest of the family.

[QueenMathilde]

Originally Posted by BaiSoSo

The letter never would have been mentioned if her father hadn't continued to lie saying that she had not contacted him since the wedding. Notice no one else published the letter they just referred to it, which the MOS could have done as well.

That's my point. The letter makes her father look like a liar and makes her look better. So why sue over that? This is one she should have just left alone.


I'm seeing far worse about them on Twitter. And at least under US law there's nothing they can do about that.

[ACO]

Originally Posted by QueenMathilde

That's my point. The letter makes her father look like a liar and makes her look better. So why sue over that? This is one she should have just left alone.


I'm seeing far worse about them on Twitter. And at least under US law there's nothing they can do about that.

Yes, social media is awful. No one denies that. They suing an actual publication. Not sure this odd need to keep bringing up social media. One has little to do with the other.

Thomas is a liar. He is a major liability which I’m sure MOS realizes now especially after he exposed the fact they paid him after they claimed they didn’t. Again, the courts will decide it.

[Helen.CH]

Originally Posted by QueenMathilde

Actually I was under the impression that they could charge you with a crime if you spread hate on social media in the UK. I keep reading that. Or for that matter France. I keep reading that too.


To my knowledge you can't in the US. Or Canada though Canada has "hate speech" laws that might cover it. Someone from Canada would have to tell you.



What I read about them on social media ( mainly Twitter) is far worse than anything the tabloids come up with. Mainly because papers are still vetted and social media isn't.


I still think they'd do better to just ignore the media but others have good points when they give reasons for lawsuits.

I do not know about social media and my post was realted to press only.
As Britain has no constitution but only laws, who try to adapt changing situations it seems to be difficult ag terms.
F.e. Germany has a very strict right of privacy the media needs to obey, a press code which is different to the british aswell, but it works out well.
In Britain the ACC reveives a load of input they can hardly handle and can only give advice if course.
As I said I have just recently read a Master thesis about this, because I wondered how it works in Britain and why on earth H&M take these tabloids so serious. I still do not understand all but see that the british recipient makes his decision more likely to buy only one newspaper and most possibly a tabloid , while in Germany readers have their " serious" regional newspaper ( without gossip) alongside a political magazine, before some buy the only available and comparable tabloid existing which is BILD, though Bild is still a mixture.
Very interesting, because at least Harry grew up with this and seems to need to take them serious, while in Germany noone would make up his/ her mind about it because it is simply a distinction of educational background aso....
Very interesting sideeffect of this forum to learn more about the countries

[BaiSoSo]

Originally Posted by QueenMathilde

That's my point. The letter makes her father look like a liar and makes her look better. So why sue over that? This is one she should have just left alone.


I'm seeing far worse about them on Twitter. And at least under US law there's nothing they can do about that.

Because they violated her copyright laws...again no one is holding the media accountable for their actions which is why they feel comfortable doing things such as hacking phones, publishing private letters, blackmailing people into getting in contact with them or sharing their medical records. If they don't put boundaries on the media they will continue to inch forward taking more and more...heck some of the tv shows were basically saying the public own Meghan/Archie.

The couple has made it known they are not here for the media games Harry said it well "I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mother."

Her father BEING a liar doesn't stop the media from using him against Meghan. He flat out admitted that he lied to PM and a week later they had him on the show again.

What does US law have to do with anything?

As for twitter there is also a lot of support for the Sussexes so take it for what it is.

[Alison H]

I think Harry and Meghan would do better to try to heal their rift with Thomas Markle, rather than taking legal action against newspapers. I appreciate the laws about copyright, but it's not as if the Mail stole the letter. Thomas Markle is just going to keep on giving interviews, and saying far worse than anything that's in the letter.

I think he's behaved very badly, but I don't think Harry and Meghan have behaved very well towards him either. Why didn't they go and see him when they got engaged? It's hardly as if they couldn't have afforded the flights, and security could have been arranged. Or after their honeymoon, when he was recovering from heart surgery? And he's said himself that he didn't know what to do when photographers started accosting him in the street, because it wasn't something that any average person would know how to cope with. If they don't try to build bridges, this is never going to go away, and they're always going to be wondering what he's going to say next.

[poppy7]

Originally Posted by Alison H

I think Harry and Meghan would do better to try to heal their rift with Thomas Markle, rather than taking legal action against newspapers. I appreciate the laws about copyright, but it's not as if the Mail stole the letter. Thomas Markle is just going to keep on giving interviews, and saying far worse than anything that's in the letter.

I think he's behaved very badly, but I don't think Harry and Meghan have behaved very well towards him either. Why didn't they go and see him when they got engaged? It's hardly as if they couldn't have afforded the flights, and security could have been arranged. Or after their honeymoon, when he was recovering from heart surgery? And he's said himself that he didn't know what to do when photographers started accosting him in the street, because it wasn't something that any average person would know how to cope with. If they don't try to build bridges, this is never going to go away, and they're always going to be wondering what he's going to say next.

Well exactly. He hasn't been treated well. Even not preparing him to come to London. It was all just awful.

[_Heather_]

Originally Posted by Alison H

I think Harry and Meghan would do better to try to heal their rift with Thomas Markle, rather than taking legal action against newspapers. I appreciate the laws about copyright, but it's not as if the Mail stole the letter. Thomas Markle is just going to keep on giving interviews, and saying far worse than anything that's in the letter.

I think he's behaved very badly, but I don't think Harry and Meghan have behaved very well towards him either. Why didn't they go and see him when they got engaged? It's hardly as if they couldn't have afforded the flights, and security could have been arranged. Or after their honeymoon, when he was recovering from heart surgery? And he's said himself that he didn't know what to do when photographers started accosting him in the street, because it wasn't something that any average person would know how to cope with. If they don't try to build bridges, this is never going to go away, and they're always going to be wondering what he's going to say next.

I see what you're saying here. I don't agree. But I do understand. However, Thomas Markle has behaved abominably and shows no signs of changing that behavior. No one should be blackmailed and manipulated into "fixing" a relationship with someone like that. That said, Mr. Markle is very much in a place where he simply has nothing left to lose so no matter what they do regarding their relationship with him he'll always do whatever he thinks will come out best for him and keep him in the limelight and continuing to cash in. The situation with Mr. Markle is a no-win and always will be. However, I do believe that this lawsuit was a mistake and was more lashing out than logical. The outcome remains to be seen and I certainly see no reason for them to attempt to "fix" or build a relationship with Thomas Markle but I don't foresee this lawsuit being the driving force for British media changes that they seem to want to believe it will be.

[ACO]

Meghan doesn't have to do anything with a man who clearly prioritizes money over his own child. Sometimes people have to walk away from toxic people for their own sanity. Everything about Thomas Markle screams that. He does not care about her.

So she is better off just doing what she needs to do. She not suing him anyways.