The BBC’s royal correspondent has dismissed Meghan Markle’s claim that the British media was out to “destroy” her as “absurd”.
Nicholas Witchell, the broadcaster’s veteran reporter, questioned some of Prince Harry and Meghan’s claims in the first three episodes of their controversial Netflix series – arguing suggestions of excessive media hostility do not stand up to “proper and reasonable scrutiny”.
In the docuseries Harry & Meghan, the Duke of Sussex said he feels it’s his duty to uncover the “exploitation and bribery” within the media who “know the full truth”.
The tell-all documentary shows the Duchess of Sussex accusing the media of wanting to “destroy” her and claiming “salacious” stories were “planted” by the press.
Harry also spoke of the “harassment” his mother Princess Diana suffered and the fear that Meghan would also be “driven away by the media”.
Speaking about the press coverage of her, Meghan said: “At that point, I was still very much believing what I was being told, which was ‘it will pass it will get better, it’s just what they do right at the very beginning’.
“This promise of ‘once you’re married, don’t worry, it’ll get better, once they get used to you it’ll get better, of course it’ll get better’.
“But truth be told, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how good I was, no matter what I did, they were still going to find a way to destroy me.”
During one of several appearances on Thursday, Witchell said: “(Harry’s) main complaint, and again it is a familiar one, is of press intrusion and this suggestion of what really amounts to a conspiracy between the Palace and the press. And that is where I think credibility is stretched beyond what is reasonable.
“Consider one of the things Meghan said: ’No matter what I did, they were still going to find a way to destroy me.′ Well, the first point is who are the ‘they’. I think it is the Palace but more particularly the press.
“But the idea that anyone was out to ‘destroy’ her, I think, frankly, is absurd and does not stand up to proper and reasonable scrutiny. But they quite obviously think they were the victims.”
Elsewhere, of Meghan’s description of her 2017 engagement interview with Radio 4 presenter Mishal Husain as an “orchestrated reality show”, Husain said: “We know recollections may vary on this particular subject, but my recollection is definitely very much: asked to do an interview and do said interview.”
The documentary features headlines from Australia’s New Idea, the US’s National Enquirer and the UK’s Mirror about their tightened security after a letter was sent holding white powder, sparking an anthrax scare.
Meghan, who said she was “just turtling” behind the scenes, explained: “It was on the heels of those terrorist attacks, so there is so much concern at the wedding. It was so scary. They were talking about getting snipers.”
