The few early comments on Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan by the British press revealed the bias towards the Duchess of Sussex.
The Mail Online headline of “(almost) straight outta Compton,” and Daily Star headline would Harry “marry into gangster royalty?” both showed stereotypes and revealed that the UK relates with the newcomer to the British royal family from racial perspective.
The Oprah Winfrey interview of “Good Morning Britain,” with the Duke of Sussex and Prince Harry sparked a lot of criticism after Piers Morgan questioned whether the Duchess was being truthful about having suicidal thoughts.
Harry had said that there had been no support from the royal family in the face of racist treatment of Meghan by the British press. And Meghan added the coverage “was bringing out a part of people that was racist.”
Meghan also said she “didn’t want to be alive anymore” and had contemplated suicide while pregnant with her son Archie. She said the royal family had told her she couldn’t seek help because “it wouldn’t be good for the institution.”
Britain’s top tabloids have also gone after Meghan, twisting the knife
A 2016 report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance found that hate speech among traditional media, particularly tabloid newspapers, “continues to be a serious problem” in Britain.
Critics say that the media’s treatment of Meghan, contrasts sharply with the often positive coverage given to her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
This, critics explain is due to the population of White in the British newsrooms. British press remains stubbornly White.
A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in 2016 found that just 6 percent of journalists across UK newsrooms don’t identify as White, compared with about 13 percent of the general population. The same study found that while Black Britons make up 3 percent of the population, they account for just 0.2 percent of journalists.
