It seems they want to do it their way while many of their subjects, and the media, are demanding another approach.
Meghan Markle has not been seen since March 19 and for the press and public following each of her steps, it’s been a long month of rumors, exasperation, speculation and not very nice coverage about her and her husband, Prince Harry.
The due date has been kept secret, the sex of the baby secret, the name of the baby secret, the place where the baby will be delivered secret and it’s no secret that the tension is mounting, especially among the British tabloids whose circulation is so tied to news and gossip about the royals – and particularly about Meghan and Prince Harry – due to their enormous popularity.
For weeks, the British media has been filled with mostly-unfounded rumors and “tips” by anonymous sources about the manner in which Prince Harry’s wife is experiencing the final moments of her pregnancy:
It has become a challenge to sort out the truth from the fake.
The last time the couple communicated with their followers was through a post in their new Instagram account revealing their decision to keep the birth of their child out of the public eye and to cancel the photo opportunity right after the baby’s birth as they intend to share their own photos of the newborn later.
They explained their choice to have the “opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family.”
That announcement has provoked a storm of criticism from royal followers and British and international media that consider the decision to protect their privacy like “a slap in the face.”
It’s not easy to understand that feeling of entitlement, but most argue that Harry and Meghan have an obligation to keep the press and public informed since they are financially supported by their subjects’ taxes.
The couple, according to The Sun, Britain’s largest-circulation tabloid, is infringing “our royal rights. The public has a right to know about the lives of those largely funded by their taxes. You can accept that, or be private citizens. Not both.”
Others are irked by the interruption of royal tradition. But the “tradition” of royal mothers appearing outside the maternity ward with their newborn hours after giving birth for a photo opportunity for press who sometimes camp out for days in advance began only a few decades ago.
“This is an unprecedented slap in the face for those legions of decent, ordinary people who love the Royal Family and see the royal birth as a joyous, national celebration – a celebration they’ve now been shut out of,” The Express fumed.
The exclusion of the press and the effect that it can have on the future coverage of the media-savvy royal couple has been compared with the fairytale story of Sleeping Beauty when the scorned fairy not invited to the princess’s christening throws a spell that hovers for years over the family.
The couple’s reluctance to share their most private moments with the press is understandable and not new. The New York Times recalls “the crushing blow to publications that were giving the wedding saturation coverage,” when Harry and Meghan allowed only one reporter inside St. George’s Chapel for their wedding. “This coldness toward photographers is understood to come from Prince Harry, who was 12 when his mother was killed in a car crash, as her driver tried to escape paparazzi on motorcycles.”
As far as anybody knows, and as the scorned British tabloids demand to be shown the baby, it’s possible the rumors are true that Meghan has already gone into labor and the couple is enjoying the event “privately as a family,” as they had announced.
