Opinion
After all the damage to the prince's reputation – indeed, some of it self-inflicted – this was a courageous stance
Sun Dec 17, 2023, 06:00 GMT
Whatever else one might say about Prince Harry, he was allowed to pull the sword from the stone. He had his day in court, his longed for legal vindication and won phone hacking verdicts against the Mirror Group. The jaded royal even saw arch enemy Piers Morgan's head roll into the executioner's basket (although, tellingly, the former Daily Mirror editor didn't stay quiet, accusing Harry and his wife Meghan of plotting to overthrow the monarchy).
For Harry there must also be a sense of an ethical, almost biblical restoration, not least of his reputation. You could feel it behind the statement his lawyer read outside court, hailing the verdict as a “great day for the truth.” He was awarded £140,600 in compensation. Scotland Yard has not ruled out a criminal investigation. So what now of Harry, the self-proclaimed “dragon slayer” and would-be reformer of the British media?
Few could deny that Harry was the most tarnished British prince of modern times, and that's saying something (two words: “Prince” and “Andrew”). First, his upbringing in the royal Truman Show of pomp and privilege and the loss of his mother Diana (12-year-old Harry walks behind her coffin with his brother William in what is now considered globally televised child abuse).
Then of course Meghan Markle, aka misogyny bingo incarnate (entitled “Starlet, Smart Gold Digger – Take Your Pick”). Followed by Megxit (The Great Escape) to prominent Montecito, California. The widely reported details of her exit (including race and mental health) don't technically apply here: the verdicts relate to previous interventions and only to Harry. But when it comes to Harry's fall from grace in the media (his transformation into a reputation killer; the blaming of industry victims), the smart money is on him and Meghan.
I was among those who wished the Sussexes well when they left Britain, but this is where things got difficult for their supporters. Too often Harry seemed like a thin-skinned, paranoid hottie.
One indication of this is the widespread erosion of public goodwill triggered by the Sussexes' own actions. 'Through The Buckingham Palace Keyhole' delivered to Oprah Winfrey using high quality Californian garden furniture. The boring Netflix series (from a deal reportedly worth £88m) which mostly consisted of complaining, self-soothing and monitoring her fame on his and hers' laptops. I signed up for Spotify (another reported £16m), then lost the deal and was labeled a “gribber” by an executive.
Since then, her personal ratings have been in free fall. Even Harry's memoir, Spare, the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time, seemed like a dirty, petty read. In the role of the Prince of Lamentations, who sold his family for a quick buck, he was constantly hit with bad press (sometimes deserved, but – let's be honest – it was in certain people's interests to discredit him). Worst of all was the South Park episode that mocked the Sussexes' “Worldwide Privacy Tour,” from which they probably never fully recovered. Even now, in Harry's heyday, the court dismissed 18 of the 33 test cases, pointing to his “propensity to believe” that every story written about him had been obtained illegally.
So it's complicated. Despite all this, here is the runaway king: battered, injured, but triumphant, having succeeded where so many others didn't have the energy, the will (or even the money) to try. For Harry, this should be appreciated for what it is: the hard-fought restoration of his good name, a reputation cleansing on a global scale.
Despite all the mistakes that have been made, despite all the human errors and missteps, some important things cannot be denied. He stuck to his words. He stayed true to his word. He said he would fight for justice, and he did. He said he would make it to the end, and he did. His main aim is reportedly to reform the British media, and for what may have been a brief golden moment, certain sections of the press have abruptly stopped laughing.
In everyone's opinion, it was a brave and bold stand taken at great personal risk, despite his wealth and privilege. As a royal prince, Harry, Duke of Sussex was automatically born with status and prestige. Now his reputation is not only restored, but this time he has actually earned it.
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