Celebrity Royal: Prince Harry's Documentary Exposes 'Irony' of Duke's Anti-Press Crusade While Monarchy 'Rises Above' Tabloid Legal Battle Drama
Prince Harry has been accused of displaying hypocritical "irony" during his interview in the new "anti-press documentary" Tabloids on Trial.
"I thought it was a very interesting documentary," royal expert Rafe Heydel-Mankoo told GBN. "It was supposed to be about press intrusion and the use of illegal tactics to gain information, and it certainly was that."
"But ironically, it was also a documentary that seemed to be trying to get Prince Harry to deliver as many newspaper-grabbing headlines as possible," the author added.
The historian then bluntly highlighted how nothing Harry and Meghan Markle do seems to "never be the Sussexes fault."
"We heard his ludicrous claim that it was his campaign against the press which was a central element of his rift with the royal family," Heydel-Mankoo further observed. "Once again, on planet Sussex. Nothing is ever the Sussexes fault, it's always the fault of somebody else."
Both the Duke of Sussex and participation from other celebrities throughout the doc are said to possibly have an ulterior motive behind it.
"This documentary actually follows another similar documentary put out by the BBC, and the intention behind these documentaries is to try to put pressure on Keir Starmer to have a Leveson inquiry 2.0.," the expert stated. "That's why you've had the participation of people like Hugh Grant, but Sir Keir Starmer has said that this wasn't actually part of his priority."
The Leveson Inquiry, established in 2011 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, was a public, judicial investigation into the culture, practices, and ethics of the British press. Named after Lord Justice Leveson, who led the inquiry, it was prompted by the phone hacking scandal involving the News of the World, a now-defunct newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The inquiry aimed to scrutinize the relationships between the press, the public, and politicians, as well as the role of the police in these illegal activities.
The royal analyst also highlighted the "double standards" that many experts and insiders scrutinize and point out when it comes to Harry's precarious future as a non-royal.
"The important thing here is that he's blaming the royal family for not coming on board with him. The King is alleged to have said to Harry that it's a suicide mission," Heydel-Mankoo shared. "The monarchy really needs to have good media relations if it is to survive. It's so vital in this day and age. And if they were to wage war on the media, as Prince Harry is, you would see such negative, destructive media coverage from the tabloid press."
The author concluded: "It's simply not in their interest to do so. Prince Harry is now no longer a royal, he's a celebrity like anybody else in Hollywood. He's free to embark upon these personal campaigns, but the royal family simply can't do that, they have to rise above it."