Meghan Markle’s Brother Called Her a Liar... Or Did He?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I cannot stand the way the media treats Meghan Markle.

For the latest example, check out these two headlines:

"Duchess of Sussex's brother wants to apologise to her"

"Meghan Markle's brother calls her a liar, tells her to apologize to royals"

These two articles were published within hours of each other. How, then, do they convey entirely different messages?

This drives me nuts.

Both statements are technically true(-ish). The second, however—the headline that is critical of Meghan and paints her in a negative light—is a warped representation of what Thomas Markle Jr. had to say about his half-sister. As far as the article's contents reveal, Markle never called the Duchess a 'liar,' instead telling viewers of the upcoming reality television series "Big Brother VIP" that he found Meghan's claims about the royals "hard to believe."

And he didn't really instruct her to apologize to the royal family so much as express the belief that she would have to do so if she ever wishes to return to their good graces. Moreover, Markle explicitly acknowledged that he could be wrong in assuming that his sister's mental health problems and claims of suicidal thoughts had been exaggerated during the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March of this year. He offered no evidence to back this speculation.

Bottom line: this headline is misleading, inflammatory, and clearly framed in a way that is meant to exacerbate critics' disdain for the Duchess.

This kind of manipulation is commonplace in the media; compare the reporting of outlets like MSNBC and Fox News, and you'll nearly always get entirely different narratives about the exact same events. This phenomenon isn't unique to Meghan. But why—why—does the media feel the need to continue churning out these dishonest and misleading headlines about a woman whose most egregious offense was enjoying avocado toast?

Because it sells. The media—particularly the English press—has exploited (and fueled) the public outrage that their deceptive portrayals of the Duchess instigated in the first place. They continue to give Meghan's sorry excuse for a father and half-sister attention and a platform from which to harass and undermine her, despite their obvious lack of credibility. And here comes her half-brother to add in his two cents.

I mean, with all disrespect, Thomas Markle Sr. just acts... well, trashy. He has never behaved as a father should, from posing for fake paparazzi photos and handing his daughter's private correspondence over to the tabloids to bashing her husband and threatening to air her "dirty laundry." Whereas Doria Ragland has carried herself with dignity and poise, never seeking media attention at the expense of her daughter, the Markles have only ever demonstrated their greed, disrespect, and uncouthness. Their behavior is embarrassing and seriously undermines their reliability.

But the British tabloids don't care about that. It doesn't matter to them if what these people say about Meghan is true; the fact that her own immediate family is saying it is gold to them.

Just to compare the truthfulness of these two headlines, the first is entirely accurate. A direct quote from Markle Jr: "I don't want anything—I would just love to go over to their home and knock on their door, give her a big hug and a kiss and say I missed the hell out of her and apologise right to her face." He went on to say that his past comments lambasting his sister were the result of his being "backed into a corner" by the media and that he "made some horrible mistakes and still regret[s] them to this day."

This paints a completely different picture from the second article's provocative headline and supports the claim that I made months ago: these unflattering statements aren't supported by facts. They are filled with general statements and opinions from anonymous critics who never offer evidence to support their allegations. They are meant to rile people up, not to keep them informed about two prominent public figures.

This won't change. The press will milk public hatred of Meghan for all it's worth until the day they decide that it no longer serves their interests. They'll do the same thing they did to Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and Janet Jackson—act as if they didn't harass and attack these women for years before magically realizing that such treatment has real consequences for the human beings behind the headlines. They'll pretend that they weren't the driving force behind the deterioration of this woman's mental health, instead jumping on the pro-Meghan bandwagon and moving on as if this unwarranted abuse never took place.

Meghan and Harry seem much happier these days, as their move to the United States has afforded them some relief from the onslaught of negative press they received overseas. But these spurious headlines continue, ensuring that the British public will never trust or respect the Duchess of Sussex. It's unfortunate—even the slightest research would reveal to her haters just how baseless and duplicitous these bullshit headlines really are.

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