Surely, accusations of racism are no worse than the racism that may have transpired? And that's the crux of my argument (which also isn't that the BRF is not the injured party, as you seem to suggest). While the BRF (and the firm) is afforded the benefit of doubt (because we don't know what's happened), H&M are crucified for relaying the story (although we still don't know what happened). And I find that's a consistant theme throughout discussions about the Sussexes and I just think that's puzzling.
Also regardless of what anyone may think of the interview (I definitely think it should've been done different), considering the gravity of some of the issues discussed, I think it's extremely inappropriate to insinuate that they were just "whining" or trying to gain sympathy. If one's recognising that for now, for us, there's no way of knowing what's right and what's wrong, surely there's not need to downplay H&M's experiences like that.
I understand that you feel Meghan and Harry deserve the benefit of the doubt. It also seems you believe that being a victim of racism is worse than being a victim of almost anything else. I respect those opinions but don’t share them.
You also seem to argue that no one can have a valid opinion on Harry and Meghan's allegations because we don't know for sure what happened. If that were the standard, we would rarely be able to have an opinion about anything - including events that don't involve the royal family - unless we are a direct witness. In contrast, I think I can reasonably form opinions about the whole interview based on whether it can be proven that Harry and Meghan deliberately lied during the interview.
Let’s examine their allegation that Archie was not eligible for security because he is not an HRH. I think we can agree that Harry and Meghan know that Harry, Meghan, Eugenie, and Beatrice are HRHs and do not currently have taxpayer funded security. Therefore, in my opinion, the only way to conclude that this allegation was not a deliberate lie is to believe that they are blithering idiots who can’t put two and two together. However, I think the reality is that they were deliberately dishonest about this and other allegations because they knew that their real experience with the royal family was not that bad so they had to lie and exaggerate to get sympathy. Frankly, I think my interpretation is more flattering.
Another thing even Harry and Meghan fans should be able to understand is why, given the suffering around the world, I think it was unseemly to complain that his family cut them off financially since they are a middle-aged couple who: (1) have millions of dollars, (2) live in a mansion, and (3) have ways to use his family’s prestige to get more money. Furthermore, Harry did not express one word of gratitude to Charles for giving him millions of dollars over the years.
What’s worse, Harry made it clear that he believes others, including taxpayers (most of whom don’t have multimillion dollar mansions), should foot the cost of his security after he voluntarily relinquished his royal duties and fled the country. I’ve concluded that the only reason for him to not to want to spend his own considerable wealth for security is because he would rather use his money to fund a lavish lifestyle. Who wouldn’t - but most of us don’t have a choice. In my opinion, the fact that they even raised the financial disagreement at all revealed that they are greedy, whiny, spoiled, entitled, ungrateful, and selfish.
Even if some don’t agree, I find it hard to believe that they don’t understand why I came to that conclusion. On the other hand, I can accept that Harry and Meghan fans may concede that their behavior in this instance was wrong but doesn’t outweigh their good qualities
I would be interested in reading an intelligent defense that addresses Harry and Meghan’s actual behavior. However, if the only response is to only deflect with allegations that Meghan and Harry are held to a different standard or repeat unproven claims that the family is racist or drag the allegations against Andrew into this, it is probably better to simply not respond. Those types of responses really don't fool anyone.