Undeterred by the unsavory scandal swirling around her father, Meghan has just launched a $550 “Library basket” on her product line, As Ever, and announced that she is filming a series of MasterChef Australia in Australia (hinting that her children could be going with her), while her staff are simultaneously telling friendly outlets that she has fled the UK to cope with the trauma of the revelations (which just happens to coincide with the half-term holidays) and that she keeps bursting into tears whenever she looks at Lili and thinks of what her father is alleged to have done.
Into this hot mess of conflicting signals and Meg-merch, one thing becoming very clear is that any sympathy that may have initially flowed Meghan’s way in the wake of the allegations about her father has swiftly flowed away again, largely because, once again, people perceive that the Sussexes’ first priority appears to be manipulating the media to protect their own image.
Whether Thomas Markle, who denies everything, committed these offenses is matter for the courts. The part of this story that falls into my lane is: how have the events of the last week been handled by Meghan (and, to a lesser extent, Harry), and what is the public verdict? And the answer so far looks grim: if possible, people are now even more furious and disgusted with Meghan than they were before. And this time, they can’t blame the mainstream media, which have by and large reverted to parroting the Sussex line.
Meghan’s people have made it clear she was not sexually abused by her father herself, and this has also changed the context of her inaction over her stated conviction her father was a danger to her children: many survivors of sexual abuse have contacted me to say that they are revolted that Meghan never followed up on the accusations against her father to protect other children, if she really and truly believed the allegations from the off, as she has spent all week vehemently suggesting she does.
