The prince, the press and the trashing of a new princess

In the final part of his series, Sean Smith explains why this dedicated human rights campaigner was forced to leave Britain

Prince Harry and Meghan attend the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in March

(WireImage)

Meghan’s friends had told her she would be a target for the British tabloid press. She didn’t want to hear any negativity. She was a woman in love intent on being positive about her new relationship. Prince Harry had done his best to warn her but he too was taken aback by what followed in the days after their relationship became public. He said: “You can have as many conversations as you want and try to prepare as much as possible, but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that.”

The initial scoop at the end of October 2016 by the Sunday Express royal reporter Camilla Tominey was pleasant enough about Meghan, describing her as a “stunning TV actress, model and human rights campaigner”. In one ghastly week in hell, however, Meghan went from that to a saucy divorcee who was not a suitable candidate because of the colour of her skin.

There were many reasons to write something about Meghan on the front page of a popular newspaper. Imagine the positive headlines: Meghan in UN Women triumph; Meghan volunteers at soup kitchen; Meghan campaigns for fresh water in Africa; Meghan Markle is a self-made millionaire.