A few weeks ago, British photographer John Swannell accidentally said something mildly critical and factual about the new Princess of Wales. Swannell said that Kate should use her keenness for photography to give work to up-and-coming British photographers, and that Kate is “not a great photographer, but she just snaps away, and with kids it’s easier if you know them.” I covered his comments and it was just a funny and mild story. I mean, we can clearly see that Kate isn’t some super-talented photographer, despite what her embiggening campaigners claim. But she has a right to take pictures of her kids and whatever, you know? Well, I guess people were mad. Mad enough to frog-march this same photographer, John Swannell, back to the Daily Mail just so he could say something insulting about the Duchess of Sussex. Curious!
A royal photographer claims Princess Diana would not have been a fan of Meghan Markle. John Swannell, who was personally commissioned by the princess to take what became classic portraits of her with her sons, predicts Diana would think that Meghan has ‘stolen’ Prince Harry.
He claims the Duchess of Sussex has turned Harry into a ‘puppet,’ alleging that she had her own ‘agenda’ when she joined the Royal Family.
Princess Diana was such a great admirer of Mr Swannell’s work, but he does not believe, however, that she would have been an admirer of the Duchess of Sussex.
‘I don’t think she would have liked her, because she’d think she’d stolen her son,’ Mr Swannell told The Daily Mail at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair. ‘He’s like a puppet now.’
The photographer, 75, is convinced that former Suits star Meghan was determined to meet a future husband in this country.
‘She seemingly had an agenda when she came over,’ he claims. ‘She was a little known actress and an opportunity came up, and she took it, like anybody would. But she’s a very smart woman, that’s for sure. She’s an operator.’
How do we go from “random dude makes an observation about the poor quality of Kate’s photos of her kids” to “random dude hisses that Meghan is a vile, manipulative snake and Diana would have hated her!” It’s almost as if – hear me out – the Mail issued Swannell some talking points and he recited those talking points back to a Mail reporter. Was he paid or something? Or is he truly just a random guy who hates Meghan? Judging solely from their reaction to Meghan and her marriage, these tabloids make it seem like British men cannot handle it when a woman has a career, makes money, has wit, a work ethic and intelligence.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
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- FILE PHOTOS: As the 20th Anniversary of the death of Princess Diana approaches (31st August 2017), Cover Images take a look at these re-digitized images from the archives of celebrated British Photographer, Mauro Carraro. Approximate date of images is shown in caption below. August 1987 Princess Diana with Prince Harry on holiday with teh Spanish Royal family in Majorca,Image: 347670758, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ***Not Available for Subscription Clients***Editorial Use Only. No stock, books, advertising or merchandising without photographer's permission***, Model Release: no
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on day two of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. The National Service marks The Queen’s 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. Public service is at the heart of the event and over 400 recipients of Honours in the New Year or Birthday Honours lists have been invited in recognition of their contribution to public life. Drawn from all four nations of the United Kingdom, they include NHS and key workers, teaching staff, public servants, and representatives from the Armed Forces, charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups.,Image: 696633859, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kirsty O’Connor / Avalon
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- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Friday, June 3, 2022 on the second of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee. The events over a long holiday weekend in the U.K. are meant to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years of service.,Image: 696640808, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Matt Dunham / Avalon
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- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Friday, June 3, 2022 on the second of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee. The events over a long holiday weekend in the U.K. are meant to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years of service.,Image: 696642820, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Matt Dunham / Avalon
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- 03/06/2022. London, United Kingdom. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle , the Duke and Duchess of Sussex leaving a Service of Thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St.Paul’s Cathedral in London, on day two of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.,Image: 696677182, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / Avalon
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- Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, on holiday in Majorca, Spain, with their sons Prince William and Prince Harry. They are guests of King Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife Queen Sofia. They are staying at their holiday home, the Marivent Palace, which is situated just outside the capital city of Palma.
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- HRH PRINCESS OF WALES (HRH Princess Diana). With HRH PRINCE HARRY. Seen at the VJ Day Celebrations. COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo URK 010143/G-29 19.08.1995
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- HRH PRINCESS OF WALES (HRH Princess Diana). Seen at the VJ Day Celebrations. With Prince Harry
They cannot. From my experience living and working there, that’s very much the case.
The BP threatened his livelyhood so he chose to act crazy like them, instead.
Exactly.
‘He’s like a puppet now.’ Says the person who only met Harry when he was a child and has absolutely no idea what he is like. He should take his own advice and stay away from subjects he knows NOTHING about.
Its projection. Its because Swannell himself knows he is a puppet for the british media. Unable to even state his real opinion and must toe the line. He is the one at 75 years of age who cannot stand up for himself because he has his own agenda for his career.
He took an official birthday photo of Anne at her home. It’s on the RF Twitter (2020). So he’s definitely one of their puppets. Such a hateful family they are
Of all the nonsense it’s the “Dianawouldhaves” that get trotted out to shame Harry that really get up my nose.
It is so easy to make comments about Diana and what she would have liked or not, or what she would’ve been like or not. She is not here to contradict or confirm what is said about her. Bearing in mind that Diana was held in high regard, all over the world, for her compassion, understanding and humanity, and her devotion to her children, it’s probably more likely that she would have welcomed Meghan with open arms, because Harry loves her and Meghan makes her son happy. And if Diana had lived, she would have been a great support for Harry and Meghan, and the relocation to California may never have happened.
So Swannell is a twat who should take a long walk off a short pier.
Honestly, I think if Diana was still living Kitty and her mumsy would never have dated let alone married William, but that’s my private opinion. I’m not being paid by the BM to say that on behalf of KP or the Duchess of Buckleberry.
@JazzBaby, the “Dianawouldhaves” are so tiresome, and incredibly disrespectful to her sons. I can’t stand it.
Especially because most of them come from people who criticized Diana quite a bit during her life in the press, or sold her out.
“Diana would think that Meghan has ‘stolen’ Prince Harry.”
Married. The word you’re looking for is married, not stolen. And Diana would’ve been happy for her son.
“He claims the Duchess of Sussex has turned Harry into a ‘puppet,’ alleging that she had her own ‘agenda’ when she joined the Royal Family.”
Enough with this Harry’s a puppet controlled by Meghan crap. Harry is a grown ass man who served in a war zone. And Meghan’s agenda was to work for the BRF and the BRF couldn’t handle her. This “she had an agenda to steal Harry away” talking point is contrary to all fact.
I think it’s more projection. The BRF and British press is the one that had the agenda…. to drive Meg out.
They are literally treating Harry like a runaway slave. The constant message is that the UK/The Firm OWN Harry. He was THEIR property to use and abuse as they please, and they are FURIOUS that they lost their asset.
“It’s like she has stolen Harry!”
Harry is a grown ass man.
British media figures are really,really good at making themselves look unhinged, irrational, and racist. Then when you see them, they all look like smug frogs. I hope they aren’t trying to see work anywhere outside of salt island, because they look nuts.
Man, people love to say they know more about Harry and his relationship with his own mother than he does himself. He must thank god every day to have gotten away from these nasty people.
There must be a “Meghan Hate” bingo card out there somewhere. He’s hit all the usual points. But I have to laugh at how Meghan supposedly went to the UK specifically to marry someone from there, anyone. I guess it was just lucky for her that she ran across Harry first, instead of some random dude at the train station.
Why would Meghan come to the UK specifically looking for a husband? What evidence is there that she wanted to move countries? No offence to the UK (I’m British) but there are more opportunities in US for someone with Meghan’s talents. Why is it so hard to believe that she fell in love with Harry? In my opinion she gave up an awful lot for him. She seemed to have a lovely life before she met him.
I know, maybe I’m not up on all the Meghan-hate talking points, but “…Meghan was determined to meet a future husband in this country.” is a new one for me.
@Emily………just to clear up my confusion: youre not addressing @Eurydice, right? Youre just venting at these unhinged racist brits who look at the married couple, Harry and Meghan and insist that she “stole” him, right?
@kingston yes just venting. I was not addressing my comments to anyone in particular 🙂
@Emily, I think it was in one of the excerpts from Valentine Low’s new book where I saw this, (or maybe the one before that whose author I can’t even remember, “Revenge”) — I’m paraphrasing, but I read a story someplace that made it sound like she came to the UK with the express purpose of husband-hunting. And that she wasn’t even subtle about it, and kept nagging people for introductions. Deranged.
@Lorelei – this is too funny. Didn’t the DM write a piece about how some UK football guy wanted to date her, but she turned him down?
Does KP need to even issue orders or talking points these days? OR do the people who want work and favor from the BRF already know basically what they want to hear? Something I think about pretty regularly after reading these articles.
Didn’t Meghan meet Harry in Canada? So tired of nasty people.
The DM pays for these articles, so he’s been given a script of things to say. Does that make him a worthless person for selling himself so cheaply? I’ll let the gods decide that one.
It makes Swannell – a puppet. You know, pot…kettle.
@WindyRiver, lol, the irony (which I’m sure went right over this Swannell dude’s head as he accepted his $ from the Fail)
Just crap. These people.
It is always the old, the ugly or the jealous ones who spout the most nonsense. As if anyone cares what these old white men and women say about Meghan. The few Blacks who spout their foolishness publicly are usually jealous or envious. Give it a rest haters the Sussexes are happily raising gorgeous children while living their best lives and dreams.
This guy may very well be my mother in law. Same exact worldview. My ahole MIL is obsessed with telling people I stole her son and all the same talking points the BRF feeds to the BM. Meghan of Montecito having a whole powerful establishment that’s basically my evil MIL. Still she rises.
Yours, mine and just about everyone else who ever had a MIL who thought some little witch used feminine wiles to trick her dear boy into leaving the only woman who could ever truly love him. Tale as old as time.
Yes. She was so desperate to marry a British man (obvs the bastions of greatness and not prone to acting like cheating is just a side effect of a good night out (in my 20s clubbing in London experience) that she…
Worked in the Canadian city of Toronto until she finally met one.
The nerve. Going over there… to a distant commonwealth country known for multiculturalism… to ensnare the British.
Everyone knows the only proper way to chase a prince is to upend your acceptance to university, take a gap year and then end up at the same university as the prince. Then get into his social circle and make your self available to his whims off and on for a decade without ever holding down a legitimate job and letting yourself get humiliated when it takes forever and when he can’t be bothered to be present at your first meeting of the matriarch of the family because he has to go to the wedding of the brother of the woman who he pretends isn’t his girlfriend but you end up dressing like her just in case.
Once again some guy that nobody remembers has mean things to say about Meghan. Watch next they will start having seances to contact Diana and they will swear she said she hates Meghan. Or they will interview the driver of a cab that Diana once rode in to swear that she would have hated Meghan. Ridiculous!
Having read this post twice, I still cannot figure out why any of us should care about some random British photographer who has never met Diana, Kate or Meghan yet discusses them as if he had. He, like bad dad, was reading from a script. Who signed the check?
I’ve always thought Diana would have really liked Meghan – both vibrant, fun, modern, empathetic women. I remember reading how Diana loathed royal family events for their backward insularity. Apparently, for Christmas day the royal women are allowed to choose which jewellery they want to wear to dine, and they spend ages deciding and haggling. Diana couldn’t bear it and found it stifling. She would have admired Meghan for trying to stretch the royal mindset.
@Sparrow, wait, what? They’re “allowed” to choose their own jewelry on that one day?! I hadn’t heard this before, but the part about the haggling and obsessing about it for months beforehand sounds about right.
Lorelei, hello. I was writing in a rush, so apologies for the confusion. I remember my sister telling me about this, mainly because neither of us likes jewellery. What they were “allowed” to do was essentially play dress up with a range of the queen’s/royal family jewels. It was apparently some kind of ritual for the women to have the historic stuff laid out and to start choosing what they wanted to wear for lunch/dinner (where the “menu” was always in French). Diana hated it and wanted no part of it. I think it was one of those moments when it strikes you that you’re in a situation you hate and what the hell are you going to do with bugger all options of escape.
That’s probably when they wear the jewels with questionable provenance so nobody will see.
Gotcha, that makes more sense. How big of the Queen to share her vast collection of jewels with her family members for ONE DAY 🙄
@Equality, ITA. And they probably do it so smugly and gleefully.
Jesus. It never ceases to appall how people with everything waste their lives on so much petty crap. 🤮🤮🙄
Sure, Diana would hate Meghan, but absolutely love the fact that so many people think her son is Fredo Corleone, weak and stupid.
And it’s rather appalling that all these people seem to want the “old Harry” back. The “cheeky” Harry who partied a lot and did some really thoughtless, jackass things (the Nazi cosplay. I’m talking about the Nazi cosplay). That Harry was doing a lot of those things because he was in pain, but they’re apparently fine with him suffering, and even go so far as to scoff at his efforts to better himself through therapy rather than revel masochistically in his trauma and depression, as is the Salty way.
They loved the Nazi cosplay. They loved the drinking. It made Ser Pegs-a-lot look better. None of these people ever gave a rats ass about Harry, so long as Harry stayed on script. When Harry started writing his own dialogue, they got angry. Fifteen years from now, give or take, we will see the same script be played out between George and either Charlotte or Louis, whichever “spare” strays from the narrow role in which they have been shoved. God help them if either turns out to be smarter, more accomplished, more charismatic, or more talented than The Heir.
I worry about Charlotte when that time comes. Just being the only girl in the family probably ensures that she’ll receive extra attention from the media, and I think she’s going to grow into a very pretty young lady to boot. She really won’t even need to stray from her role or do anything else to attract attention, which could make George even more jealous than if she stole the spotlight with her intelligence or charm. (Of course, this is assuming that George inherits his dad’s petulance and jealous streak, which I obviously hope is not the case!)
Also, when I first read your comment, I initially thought that your reference to “The Heir” meant William rather than George. But I think my misunderstanding still made sense because I could absolutely see William (and Kate, for that matter) being jealous of his own kids. The family really is THAT petty and dysfunctional.
@Miranda, evidently they prefer their royals to be emotionally stunted (see: Kate). Yes, Harry did a lot of stupid things when he was younger, but find me one person on earth who *didn’t* do some sh!t in their teens that they’re now embarrassed about.
Harry grew up and learned from his earlier mistakes, and they simply cannot handle it. They wanted him to stay in the role they themselves had DECIDED was his and pigeonholed him into for the rest of his life.
Harry said it himself, Meghan and his Mum would have been best friends had she not been “removed” and I think Diana would have been just as appalled as H&M that her grandchildren were called the n word. Unbelievable, unnecessarily nasty and vicious
If you’re going to bring up the nazi costume, it’s only fair to point out that it was William’s idea, that Wm wore blackface and dressed as an “African native” and that there were also photos of that (which have since disappeared from the internet). The entire theme was colonists and natives. It was a whole mess, but the only thing anyone seems to remember is what Harry wore.
William’s 21st birthday party was a racist as fuck colonizer theme of “ out of Africa” and he was 21 in 2003 which is way too late to pretend that everyone didn’t know this was racist.
WOW, I honestly did not know that, but it makes perfect sense. I still think Harry should’ve known better, but that context does explain why he didn’t at least have a friend who could’ve told him that his costume was wildly offensive.
But to be clear, I don’t hold that one incident against Harry, because he’s one of the precious few one-time wearers of offensive costumes who probably feels genuine remorse over it and has truly changed. The compassionate, devoted husband and father we see today is thankfully lightyears away from that version of himself.
She didn’t hold him about the neck and threaten him to propose!
UGH THESE PEOPLE!
There are bots who post harry is a puppet it is all scripted. It is a sexist comment implying that men should be on charge and not respect wives opinions. I also see along with the comments that harry should put his foot down. Those comments are just gross. Diana would have been on team Sussex and would have been disappointed in the wails imo
And some keep going on that it was great that harry spent his time with Kate and william and Meghan broke them up which is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read
Please, Meghan, make me your puppet too! Can’t she just start a cult already?
Diana would have had major misgivings about kate.she would have approved of Meghan imo
So this man’s connection to be the great oracle of how Princess Diana’s would feel if she had been allowed to live beyond the age of 36 is all due to a photo shoot she allowed him to do? I’m sure he has never met Duchess Meghan or conversed with an adult Prince Harry but sure we are supposed to take his word as factual 🙄.. just another old white British racist jockeying for relevance. The fails favorite sort to quote.
Princess Diana would absolutely hate that the BRF and media there are doing the exact same thing to Prince Harry and his family that they did to her, I think that is the only fair observation imo.
Re: British people and DM talking points…I spend so much time reading Celebitchy that sometimes I forget to ask how people in the flesh feel about the situation in real life. Like, Meghan and the royal family doesn’t come up that often in casual conversation? Living in SoCal, most of the time it’s brought up, people say, “hey, don’t they live in Montecito?” and move on. I’m also not the type to turn it into a full-blown conversation about how much I dislike the RF.
Upon meeting two Brits (one transplant, one visitor) I have my completely anecdotal “evidence” of their views towards Sussexit. I always frame the conversation as “I can’t help but ask, but since you’re from the UK, what do you make of…” spoken in a neutral tone, and they’ve been surprisingly candid but also extremely polite/reticent to react too strongly. The transplant (a white Brit, male) very soft-spokenly said, in the most roundabout way, “we don’t think about it too much, but there is a general feeling that she did sort of, take him from us, yes.” At the same time, he admitted that the royal family is nothing but a symbolic figurehead and they do “nothing.”
The visitor (male, British-Indian), on the other hand, said, “you know I just think of it as typical in-law relations. The family always give the in-laws a really hard time. They do in my culture and I just think it’s a typical, but magnified example of that.”
These men are by no means representative of the entire UK, and I enjoyed talking to them about it/getting real-life feedback. Because they didn’t know how I felt until after they commented, they spoke their minds plainly but politely. I do wish one day I could meet a Brit who openly defends and embraces Harry and Meghan, as I would hope they are not few and far between.
@Lux, that was interesting; thanks for sharing!
I’m also guilty of being in the CB/Twitter bubble so much that I sometimes forget that most people just do. not. care., and that all of this crap is being driven by the British tabloids, which only a tiny percentage of people even see.
I am sure most people are not that in the know about it or care (about the Sussexes – the monarchy in general is a whole other kettle of fish, particularly as Brits will often say they don’t care about it and it’s useless and “Americans really care more about it” but then when you mention abolishing it they often become defensive of the royals all of a sudden and their “value”).
But the ones that do care, in the negative, are vicious and often violent. Which is the problem.
@C, no, I definitely agree with your last point, and I hope my comment didn’t come across as minimizing what Meghan dealt with. The people who do care are the minority, but it’s a loud, cruel minority.
I am so sick of Brits claiming the royal family does nothing. The royal family does a ton of things. Get itself exempt from various laws, own massive amounts of land that people have to pay them to live on, money launder, rape girls…
I’m tired of these old white men crying about Harry leaving the UK.
Occasionally I accidentally stumble into online forums where British people are discussing Harry and Meghan. They sound like our white supremacist Trumpers. Seriously pathological. They hate Meghan with a passion and everything she does is interpreted as something nefarious. It is truly bizarre.
I don’t know why they even care about the spare’s wife, it would take a massive tragedy for him to become King. But they are so deeply angry about Meghan and convinced that she manipulated Harry into everything. Apparently love of money has been replaced as the root of all evil.
It just isn’t rational, but it sounds really dangerous. We know here in the US that it just takes one unstable person to decide they are acting for the community if they take violent action against the despised target. If I were Harry, I would never want my wife and kids to set foot in the UK again and would reconsider my own visits. Let the kids connect with the family over Skype and FaceTime. It’s not just the British media that have gone insane over Meghan contaminating the pure British Royal Family.
All I can think about when I see a hit piece like this is: what have William and Kate provided the Daily Mail to ensure this type of coverage and what did the Palace encourage to allow it to occur?
I’m interpreting this as he’s pissed that Meghan and Harry used Misan Harriman for their pictures of Lili’s first birthday (and when they were in Mancheseter for OYW in September), and did not ask him.
W& K are thin skinned. I wonder if this is his way of trying to win back their favor.
All these experts claiming Diana this Diana that make me laugh , no one knows what or whom her likes and dislikes would be and for a photographer to come out and say that is pure conjecture and speculation , The Idiot trying to become relevant .
Meghan is always on time with her podcast topics. If it isn’t the Angry Black Woman trope they are trying to push, it’s the oversexed, uncouth harlot who could never, ever be worthy of real love from a pure, white prince. 🙄 In their minds of course she would have had to manipulate him and trick him into leaving all that is good and proper to start a new life with her. These bigoted d-bags are so f*cking tedious and predictable.
These are almost the exact descriptors ascribed to Kate a while ago. The BM wrote that Kate thought Meghan had an agenda from the start and I know I’ve read that either Kate or Camilla (? Could be wrong, don’t remember now) thought Meghan was an ‘operator’.
I’m pretty sure they pulled the same tactic on Giles coren after he tweeted about prince willies affair. Cos he also criticised Meghan literally weeks after. I think they threaten them with bad press for daring to say anything bad about willie and keen, and therefore cut a deal to trash Meghan to save their own ass.
Anyway it just goes to show how tyrannical willie and keen are, that literally no one can dare criticise them on public without having their livelihoods ruined.
@February Pisces, speaking of Giles Coren— and that other reporter whose name I can’t remember, but who famously tweeted something like, “I can’t wait until we can report everything we have on William” (which was then deleted), when exactly is that time going to come?
So many of us thought that people were waiting for the Queen to pass, and holding back all of the dirt they have on William (and probably other family members, too) out of respect for her. And that once she was gone, the floodgates would open. Well, it’s almost November, and…nothing. What are these people waiting for??
Because they’re not going to sell tons of newspapers if the top stories are things like, “Kate is the new patron of whatever.”
It may have been Alex Tiffin, though his tweet referring to the story is still up: “Ohhhh boy, my reporting of Prince William’s affair with Rose Hanbury was a tad awkward timing wise.”
It was a reporter for the financial times based in Beijing I believe. Alex tiffin has been openly saying the injunction is meaningless in Scotland.
Yeah I dunno, my feeling is this is just a guy who will talk s*&t about anyone for a few seconds of fame.
Yeah, Harry looks miserable with Meghan. Someone should send a Canadian mountie across the border to rescue him from his terrible life.
Maybe he just likes insulting women. He went as hard as he felt he could against Kate, but she’s protected. With Meghan, he can be gloves off.
It sounds like he’s attempting to get back into the good graces of W&K since he said something that wasn’t kissing ass. The easiest way to do so would be to smear Meghan.
I sincerely doubt someone who was merely a photographer of a few of the *many* pictures of Princess Diana would be knowledgeable about what/who she would or wouldn’t like. As far as Meghan stealing Harry? He’s a grown man. Watching him speak and looking at his body language now…he is far more at ease than when he was still trapped in the royal bubble. Diana would be happy for him!
Haha. Look at his face.
If you can’t say what you want at 75 when can you say it?
It breaks my heart that Meghan has to put up with this constantly! This is dangerous, it’s hate speech, and the British media are constantly printing it. People are influenced by it and Meghan is put at risk. I wish there were a way to stop it.