When rage reigns out of control

When Harry met Meghan: The frank and shocking Netflix documentary raises the question of racism in the royal family . — AFP

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex saga has crossed all lines of decency with venom spewed by all sides.

AN article by Jeremy Clarkson, a veteran journalist and broadcaster with British tabloid The Sun, is full of rage.

He mentioned how much he loathed Meghan Markle.

He dreamt of a day “when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, Shame! And throw lumps of excrement at her.”

How The Sun could have allowed such vitriol to be published is beyond belief. It is downright sexist, misogynist and a classic case of harassment.

The Sun has certainly crossed the line of decency by publishing such an irresponsible piece.

I can understand a vast majority of British people were cringing when Netflix aired the six-part documentary on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. I have my reservations about their intention. I had also watched their interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

They raised many questions about how they were treated, especially Meghan, within “the system”.

The most shocking part of the interview was the insinuation about racism in the royal family.

The Netflix documentary is more revealing. It was frank and shocking. And again, the question of racism surfaces.

Meghan being the first non-white to join the British royal family alleges to have faced “problems” because of her skin colour.

I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt on such accusations. But then the British monarchy has a chequered past in terms of slavery, colonialism and the treatment of natives.

Even in 2022, someone who was a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II has resigned and apologised for being insensitive towards a person of colour. So, Meghan has a point.

I tend to believe that she was not too far wrong when she said certain segments of the monarchy colluded with the tabloids to portray her in a bad light.

She did not mince her words when she spoke about an element of jealousy because of her popularity.

The tremendous receptions she got in Australia some years ago changed the dynamics of her relationship within the palace. Meghan, like Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, is a natural-born charmer when dealing with people.

Since then, the attacks against Meghan have become a cottage industry.

The air is full of Meghan and Harry haters. I can understand why Meghan came out with her podcast and why both of them participated in the documentary. They have every right to put forth their side of the story.

In the case of the Sussexes, I tend to agree that free speech has been sadly compromised for the sake of commercial opportunism. Anything negative about them sells.

I am afraid what happened to them is a potent symbol of a press hurtling out of control.

I am also concerned about the role played by social media in the game.

In the documentary, there is a mention of a company, Bot Sentinel, that specialises, among other things, in analysing tweets. The company claims “to fight disinformation by identifying, tagging and tracking bots and classifying untrustworthy accounts”.

In their analysis, Bot Sentinel found out that there are “people who were highly coordinated and deeply networked” who were responsible “for the vast majority of hate propaganda against the couple”.

According to its founder and chief executive officer Christopher Bouzy, out of 114,000 tweets analysed, 70% of the hateful content came from just 83 accounts yet reaching out to 17 million people.

He pointed out that most of them are middle-aged Caucasian women.

I agree that misinformation is a huge global humanitarian crisis right now.

It is made possible by tabloids fixated with sex, lies and pseudo-democracy and social media. In the case of the Sussexes, the argument that a small group of account holders can create such a damaging image of members of the royal family holds water.

According to another report, mainstream royal pundits amplify coordinated hate campaigns against them. Misinformation distorts perspectives.

The impact on the British public can be devastating.

The Clarkson saga is a classic example of what disproportional rage is all about.

I can imagine how lonely the late Princess Diana was, shackled into obedience, creaking under pressure of being an outsider and hounded by the press.

Like Meghan, she harboured suicidal intent. But she took her own revenge, allowing herself to be interviewed by Martin Bashir on TV in 1995 and sanctioned a tell-all memoir in 1992.

Don’t get me wrong. I have my reservations about Meghan too.

I think she is narcissistic par excellence. She is a second-rate actress riding on the royal bandwagon. But she must be treated fairly and justly. She is certainly no Diana. But she is enduring what the late Diana went through.

Some argued that she is destroying the monarchy.

On the other hand, the British monarchy must reform itself accordingly. The social dynamics are changing.

The least the British public should do is to acknowledge that hate begets hate.

Clarkson has shown us how misogyny and racism are very much alive in the minds of certain segments of the British public.

Johan Jaaffar was a journalist. He is also an award-winning creative writer and a theatre activist. His book ‘Jejak Seni: Dari Pentas Bangsawan ke Media Prima Berhad’ is published by DBP. The views expressed here are entirely his own.