It’s a lifestyle that many dream of: wearing tiaras and living in grand castles. The facade of this fantasy hides the dark reality that real-life women in the British royal family experience. From the infamous, tragic love story of Diana and Charles, Princess and Prince of Wales, to the racism Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex experienced, the women in the family are not only the most well-known, but also the most tortured by one main factor: the press.
Despite Princess Diana becoming one of the world’s most influential people within a short amount of time, she was not subjected to a perfect life. After marrying into one of the most prestigious families at only 19, Diana’s fate of being heavily scrutinized by the press was inevitable and only just beginning, and it would later follow her until her death. In her infamous BBC interview, Diana talked about feeling trapped and lied to by the palace and by the press. It was later found years after her passing that the BBC forged fake documents to trick her into giving the interview. Shortly after the interview aired, she would divorce the then Prince Charles. Aside from her hardships resulting from the press, Diana experienced mental health issues that would historically become a noticeable pattern for the women in the royal family. The press continued to follow and spread lies about her after her divorce, until Diana’s life ended in 1997 as a result of a car crash, caused by paparazzi chasing her.
However, it was not only Diana who had to endure cruelty from the press. Although over 15 years after her passing, Diana’s youngest son’s wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been pushed into a similar path. After marrying Prince Harry in 2018, the press began to harass her, and in about 2 years, caused her to leave. Although Meghan and Harry left the Royal Family in 2020 for multiple reasons, the treatment by the media worsened even further. The press fabricated conspiracies and comments in an attempt to silence and get back at them, more so Meghan. The Duchess eventually opened up about the press and the difficulties of being a woman in the royal family in her 2022 documentary Harry & Meghan. The Duchess mentioned, in the documentary, a time when a tabloid made racist comments about her newborn child being comparable to an animal. She continued to mention the times when she had suicidal thoughts because of what the tabloids constantly wrote about her. This moment became clear to many that the treatment Meghan received brought back memories of what her mother-in-law experienced.
In addition, her sister-in-law, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has been in the newspapers and a topic on social media recently. In Jan., she underwent abdominal surgery and had not been seen publicly since. This led to an onslaught of rumors and demands, mostly made by the press, in an attempt for the Palace to reveal more about her condition. Rumors, including about her husband, Prince William being in an affair, as well as her possibly being in a coma were contrived by the press and the public. They got so extreme that the princess spoke out to clear up why she had been absent, stating she was recently diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing treatment.
This led to public outrage, more so surrounding the fact that the press brought attention to the lies and forced the truth out of her. Discussions of “Do celebrities have a duty of letting the public know about their health?” have sparked since this incident, and have called for others to treat others with the human decency of privacy, even if famous.
What these women have in common is their shared experience of being harassed and scrutinized by the press. Diana ultimately lost her life due to it, Meghan was forced to escape, and Catherine had to share a sensitive diagnosis with the public. While the princess fairytale may seem like a dream, the reality for the women in the royal family is far from it.
