London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 26, 2025

Will Meghan's big win change public opinion?

Will Meghan's big win change public opinion?

This has been a big win for the Duchess of Sussex, as the appeal court has upheld her claim against the Mail on Sunday for publishing parts of a private letter to her father.

It allows her to put down a strong marker over her privacy - and the slam-dunk ruling allows her to avoid any awkward cross-examination as a witness.

"This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what is right," was Meghan's response, after her win over a news industry that she says "conditions people to be cruel".

It's part press statement and part manifesto, as she rails against a type of media that "rewards chaos over truth".

There might be some champagne cracked open in the Californian winter sunshine, because Meghan's success vindicates a high-risk strategy.

Previous generations of royals might have been horrified at the idea of having their private messages read out in a courtroom or being picked apart for embarrassing headlines in the witness box.

But in this dispute about the publication of a letter from a daughter to a father, the judges focused on the letter of the law, rather than other billowing issues about the royals and the media.

The appeal court's confirmation that this had been a breach of the duchess' privacy means that even if her life is inescapably of public interest, it doesn't make her public property.

Meghan appeared last month on the Ellen DeGeneres chat show in the US


But it's come with some bruising headlines. There was much publicity around her apology for having not remembered information briefed to authors writing a book about her and Prince Harry.

The judges describe this as "at best, an unfortunate lapse of memory". This might have been an uncomfortable insight, but it had no bearing on the fundamental issues of the privacy case.

The newspaper's publisher, Associated Newspapers, says an appeal to the Supreme Court is being considered, arguing that a judgment should only have been given on "evidence tested at trial".

The publisher challenged the lack of cross-examination of evidence, when it said issues had been raised about the credibility of the duchess.

Rather than a breach of privacy, the publisher said its stories addressed issues of public interest surrounding the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan.

Meghan sharply divides opinion and even with this legal win that's likely to continue.

Her supporters will see it as evidence that she really has been unfairly treated by a hostile press. While her detractors might continue to view the court case through the prism of a narcissistic attempt to control her image.

Social media will still be a snake pit on both sides.

'Hi Ma'am'


But the court case did shed some unexpected light on Prince Harry and Meghan's world in the months after their wedding in 2018 - in the documents published alongside.

Emails, texts and statements suggested a couple under siege.

There was relentless press interest; Prince Harry was under "significant pressure" from his family about Thomas Markle talking to the media; Meghan had no "secure means of communication" with her father, and she worried about her mother's safety from "egregious paps".

She described her "personal styling" as being "the only thing I seem to still have any control over".

The exchanges between Meghan and her communications secretary Jason Knauf showed the extreme detail that went into planning her letter to her father, down to structuring the sentences so no page could be reproduced without showing it ran on to the next.

The emails were also a reminder that this wasn't a usual PR relationship, with Meghan addressed as "Hi Ma'am".

Prince Harry appeared in the email chains using a lot of exclamation marks and sounding indignant and protective on his wife's behalf, warning of "vile" attacks and "cyberbullying on a different scale" and wanting to "get some truths out there".

Meghan's iPhone e-mail sign-off was: "Please excuse all technological mishaps. I'm a Luddite." But she comes across as highly focused and intensely self-aware about the modern media.

Popularity ratings


This courtroom battle will add another layer to Meghan's complicated relationship with the British public.

What began as an enthusiastic welcome for a breath of fresh air, changed into something like the way Yoko Ono was treated for supposedly breaking up the Beatles.

The public has its own expectations of royals. They might not mind titles, but they bridle at entitlement.

YouGov polling shows a slump in Meghan's popularity over the past year. In autumn 2020, 40% of people in this UK tracking survey had a positive opinion of her, but that had fallen to 28% in autumn 2021, with Prince Andrew the only royal with worse approval ratings.

But when the YouGov poll is broken down into age groups the Duchess of Sussex is one of the most popular royals for younger people, more so than the Duchess of Cambridge or Prince Charles.

There's a chasm in attitudes towards Meghan and it shows what an asset she could have been to a royal family needing more diversity and wanting to reach younger generations.

Her more recent campaigns, such as lobbying over parental leave rights in the US, might have connected with this socially-aware generation.

Instead her claims in her Oprah interview about the royal family and the colour of the baby she was expecting - when she said there were comments about "how dark his skin might be" - have continued to fizzle like a sulphurous firework that won't go out.

Meghan, now aged 40 and a mother of two, looked relaxed and at home on the Ellen chat show circuit last month, in a Californian TV studio with celeb-friendly questions, a long way from courts and courtiers.

There could be a chance to write a new chapter, more on her own terms. But even though the privacy ruling will be a warning signal, the media and public interest in this famous couple is not going to go away.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×