Skip to content
Bramble

UK

Harry and Meghan settle in UK: palace wariness and little paparazzi attention

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been back in the UK for about a month. Coverage differs on whether the story is palace suspicion of their motives or the relative absence of press intrusion.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Newsweek
Image: Fox News

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been in the UK for a little over a month, having moved in August. Fox News reports, citing a People report of a palace source, that the royal family still does not know the couple's motives. King Charles issued a letter through the Lord Chamberlain saying the couple are non-working royals.

Commentators quoted by Fox News disagree about the letter: one called it unnecessary and humiliating, while another said it restated what was agreed in 2020. A source close to the couple told People they are public figures and that a normal, private life is not realistic, and security arrangements are reportedly being looked at again. Newsweek reports the couple's life has been quiet, with no sign of paparazzi pictures or of the harassment Princess Diana experienced.

Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, told CNN that press conduct has improved, saying he thinks it is easier in London than in California. British outlets have only said the couple live near the Cotswolds, partly because the couple wrote to the press regulator IPSO asking for privacy around their home and their children's school. Newsweek says the couple have complained about some stories and won a Daily Mail correction, but the disputes concern what was written rather than how journalists behaved.

Newsweek adds that Meghan's Instagram posts and a friend's photos could help photographers find the couple.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Analysis of how press intrusion has changed since Diana, using the couple's quiet UK life as the example.
Emphasis
Charles Spencer's remarks, IPSO rules, the absence of paparazzi photos and British media restraint.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not cover the palace letter, the royal family's view of the couple's motives or the security question.
Charged language
“relentless paparazzi harassment”“witch hunt”
For example
“free from the kind of relentless paparazzi harassment experienced by Princess Diana” — Newsweek

Right1 outlet

Framing
Royal-family intrigue: palace suspicion, the Lord Chamberlain's letter and the couple's status, told through commentators.
Emphasis
Palace frustration, rifts with Prince William, the 'half-in, half-out' question and security.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention press intrusion, paparazzi, the IPSO request or the couple's privacy complaints.
Charged language
“half-in, half-out”“cowardly act”“Megxit”“drama”
For example
“Royal commentators told Fox News Digital they are divided over Harry and Meghan’s return to the U.K.” — Fox News