Update: On Tuesday, Piers Morgan walked off the set of Good Morning Britain after a co-host called him out on his negative remarks about Meghan Markle. "Okay, I'm done with this, sorry, no, sorry... see you later, sorry, can't do this," Morgan said, after Alex Beresford said it was "clear" that Morgan did not like Markle. Beresford also described his behavior as "absolutely diabolical." He later reemerged to clarify his remarks trying to discredit her suicidal ideation, saying, "It's not for me to question if she felt suicidal," and that those statements about her mental health should be "taken seriously."
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This story was originally published on March 8, 2021.
During their heartbreaking and candid interview with Oprah Winfrey, the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, revealed that the monarchy had done nothing to protect Markle from constant tabloid harassment and racist attacks. After Markle shared that members of the royal family had voiced "concerns" about her son Archie's skin tone, refused to help her obtain treatment when she was pregnant and experiencing suicidal ideation, and didn't want to protect Archie via the title of "prince," a growing sentiment lingered on Twitter: relief that Meghan and her family left the clutches of royalty before it was too late.
But not everyone was horrified by the couple's allegations — or thankful they had found a way to leave the trappings of British autocracy. Andre Walker, a British political commentator in desperate need of a history book, tweeted that Harry had burned his relationship with Britain and "everyone who declares war on the United Kingdom loses, you're about to join the list." Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt said of the couple's royal departure: "If I got a castle, and I got the jewels and a crown, I wouldn’t be leaving! I would not leave!"
And, of course, the two most insufferable conservative journalists entered the Royals chat, too. Known transphobe Piers Morgan sent out a stream of tweets attacking Markle, calling her the "Pinocchio Princess" and describing the interview as "a disgraceful diatribe of cynical race-baiting propaganda designed to damage the Queen as her husband lies in the hospital and destroy the Monarchy." After #AbolishTheMonarchy started trending on Twitter, Morgan tweeted, "Congrats Meghan and Harry — your mission is complete."
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Of course, Megyn Kelly, known for weaponizing her white woman tears, also got in on the anti-Harry and Meghan dialogue. "Give me a break," the former Fox News host tweeted. "Have you ever seen such privileged people wallowing in their own (perceived) victimhood like this?" Kelly also criticized Oprah's interview prowess, tweeting, "Oprah stayed too broad-I wanted more: 'who?...Be specific...what exactly did they say? Who was jealous of M after Australia? How did u know that? What do you mean ur family hasn’t 'educated themselves' the way you have? They're racist? WHO?' Eventually they'd have to get specific."
(It should be noted, for perhaps no reason at all, that Kelly is currently unemployed — NBC canceled her show Megyn Kelly Today after she defended white people dressing up in Blackface.)
The fact that Kelly, who spends her time lamenting the consequences of so-called "cancel culture" and who has a history of making racist claims, took issue with Meghan and Harry's allegations against the royal family is hardly surprising. The fact that Morgan, a proud misogynist who claims he — not Markle — is the real victim of "racist bullying" spent his time painting the first princess of color as a vindictive wife hellbent on toppling a monarchy with a long history of perpetuating racism and sexism is about as on-the-nose as you can get.
The backlash they received online and on-air — Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu and Trisha Goddard took Morgan to task the following morning on Good Morning Britain — was just as expected. But it doesn't make their comments any less dangerous, especially as the royal family continues to attack Markle in an attempt to distract from the horrific allegations brought against them.
The Palace is currently trying to discredit Meghan, claiming she was bullying Palace staff. And given that Markle is pregnant with the couple's second child just months after she shared that she had suffered a miscarriage in the summer of 2020, these claims coupled with Kelly, Morgan, and their ilk's attacks could cause serious mental and emotional harm.
At some point, one has to wonder when Kelly and Morgan will prioritize another person's life over their self-serving, predictable provocation.