When accomplished, glamorous American actress Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, she was hailed as a breath of fresh air for BritainB次元官网网址檚 fusty royal family. That honeymoon didnB次元官网网址檛 last.

Now the couple wants independence, saying the pressure of life as full-time royals is unbearable. And a debate is raging: Did racism drive Meghan away?

When Prince Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne, began dating the B次元官网网址淪uitsB次元官网网址� actress B次元官网网址� daughter of a white father and African American mother B次元官网网址� the media called it a sign that Britain had entered a B次元官网网址減ost-racialB次元官网网址� era in which skin colour and background no longer mattered, even to the royal family.

U.K. Labour Party lawmaker Clive Lewis, who, like Meghan, has biracial heritage, says the royal rift shows that Britain still has a problem with B次元官网网址渟tructural racism.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e can see it with Meghan Markle and the way that sheB次元官网网址檚 been treated in the media, we know that this is a reality of the 21st century, still,B次元官网网址� Lewis told Sky B次元官网网址. B次元官网网址淎fter 400 years of racism you canB次元官网网址檛 just overturn it overnight.B次元官网网址�

Frederick W. Gooding, an assistant professor of African American studies at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, said it would be B次元官网网址渄isingenuousB次元官网网址� to claim race had not been a factor in MeghanB次元官网网址檚 treatment.

B次元官网网址淪he was always going to be an outsider,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭here was always going to be this barrier because of her race.B次元官网网址�

From the start, some in the media wrote about Meghan using racially loaded terms. One tabloid columnist referred to her B次元官网网址渆xoticB次元官网网址� DNA. A Daily Mail headline described her Los Angeles roots as B次元官网网址�(almost) straight outta ComptonB次元官网网址� and claimed she came from a B次元官网网址済ang-scarredB次元官网网址� neighbourhood. A TV host described Meghan as B次元官网网址渦ppity.B次元官网网址�

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Meghan was criticized for everything from eating avocados B次元官网网址� which the Daily Mail claimed fuel B次元官网网址渉uman rights abuses, drought and murderB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� to wearing dark nail polish, apparently an etiquette faux pas.

Morgan Jerkins, a senior editor at Zora, a Medium.com site for women of colour, said that because Meghan was B次元官网网址渁n outsider, culturally, racially, and socioeconomically, she has been the royal familyB次元官网网址檚 scapegoat.B次元官网网址�

Others point out that Meghan is hardly the first royal to get a rough ride in the media. The press and the royal family have an intense and often toxic relationship going back decades. HarryB次元官网网址檚 mother, Princess Diana, was snapped by paparazzi wherever she went. When she and Prince Charles admitted that their marriage was in trouble, her private life became public property.

Diana was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while being pursued by photographers. Prince Harry, who was just 12 when his mother died, said in October he feared B次元官网网址渉istory repeating itself. B次元官网网址� I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.B次元官网网址�

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After DianaB次元官网网址檚 death, a chastened British press mended its ways B次元官网网址� a bit. The media left young William and Harry alone in exchange for carefully staged interviews and photo opportunities as they grew up. That practice has continued with the three young children of William and his wife, Kate.

But in many ways little really changed. Royal stories still sell newspapers and generate clicks. That has meant intense B次元官网网址� and even illegal B次元官网网址� scrutiny. In the early 2000s, tabloid reporters hacked the voicemails of Prince William and royal staff members in pursuit of scoops.

Younger female royals are routinely judged on appearance, demeanour and habits. Prince WilliamB次元官网网址檚 wife was relentlessly scrutinized for years: dismissed as dull, accused of being lazy for not having a full-time job, and dubbed B次元官网网址渨aity KatyB次元官网网址� before William proposed.

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Still, MeghanB次元官网网址檚 treatment has sometimes seemed harsher. Last year, the Daily Mail ran photos of a pregnant Meghan cradling her bump under the headline: B次元官网网址淲hy canB次元官网网址檛 Meghan Markle keep her hands off her bump?B次元官网网址� Months earlier the same paper had described a pregnant Kate as B次元官网网址渢enderlyB次元官网网址� cradling her bump.

The Associated Press

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