Prince Harry is not happy about how the press has been treating his girlfriend.

Jon Comulada
11.08.16

Prince Harry wants the press to stop harassing his new girlfriend, Meghan Markle.

On Nov. 8, the royal's communications team issued a statement lambasting the abusive, sexist, and racial undertones used by press and social media when talking about Markle.

Prince Harry has "seen a line crossed," the statement reads:

"His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public — the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments."

Markle at the Women in Cable Telecommunications Signature Luncheon in 2015. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for WICT.

In the letter, the royal family specifically calls out and condemns the racist and sexist harassment Markle has been facing.

The statement describes incidents of photographers attempting to gain entry into Markle's home, bribes offered to Markle's ex-boyfriend, and "the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life."

Prince Harry has only been dating Markle for a few months. In fact, this is the first time the relationship has been publicly confirmed.

Despite that, British tabloids have already run several insidious stories about her. One of them suggested she appeared in pornography, when, in fact, clips of the TV show that Markle co-stars in had simply been uploaded to a porn site.

Markle, who is biracial, has also been the target of racially charged online comments and tweets.

Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images.

It's a pretty big deal for the royal family to come to Markle's defense.

They have a long history of fighting with the press over scrutiny of their private lives. It's also a personal subject for them since the death of Princess Diana in 1997 was the result of trying to outrun paparazzi. This is the first time, though, they've publicly defended someone outside of the family, specifically condemning racism and sexism.

It's unprecedented for the family to issue a statement like this, but the treatment of Markle was so bad that Prince Harry was apparently afraid for her safety and for that of her family.

The letter also addresses those who say that harassment is just the price you have to pay for celebrity.

"It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm," the statement says. "He knows commentators will say this is 'the price she has to pay' and that 'this is all part of the game'. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game — it is her life and his."

Prince Harry in 2016. Photo by Joe Giddins/WPA Pool/Getty Images.

The letter makes no demands; it simply calls on members of the press to "reflect" for a moment before any more damage is done.

Maybe that's something we should all do.

We certainly have a similar problem here in America. In fact, we practically invented celebrity culture, and there are countless examples of celebrities being harassed or assaulted online and in person.

When a man launched himself at Kim Kardashian, for example, many headlines made jokes at her expense and failed to treat the incident as what it was: sexual assault.

When someone is in the spotlight, it can be too easy to forget that they're a human being — that they have feelings and an identity. It can be too easy to forget that we don't own them and that they deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect and dignity as anyone else.

racism celebrities sexism relationships prince harry harassment abuse social media celebrity royal family online abuse paparazzi meghan markle press
Most Shared

How Trump and Obama handled MAGA chants shows how much American politics has changed in just three years.

Can we send HIM back?

PBS NewsHour/YouTube (left) The Guardian (right)

I'm staring at my screen watching the President of the United States speak before a stadium full of people in North Carolina. He launches into a lie-laced attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and the crowd boos. Soon they start chanting, "Send her back! Send her back! Send her back!"

The President does nothing. Says nothing. He just stands there and waits for the crowd to finish their outburst.

WATCH: Trump rally crowd chants 'send her back' after he criticizes Rep. Ilhan Omar www.youtube.com

My mind flashes to another President of the United States speaking to a stadium full of people in North Carolina in 2016. A heckler in the crowd—an old man in uniform holding up a TRUMP sign—starts shouting, disrupting the speech. The crowd boos. Soon they start chanting, "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!"

Keep Reading Show less
donald trump barack obama racism send them back immigration the squad congress
Recommended

France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

via EarthFix / Flickr

What will future generations never believe that we tolerated in 2019?

Dolphin and orca captivity, for sure. They'll probably shake their heads at how people died because they couldn't afford healthcare. And, they'll be completely mystified at the amount of food some people waste while others go starving.

According to Biological Diversity, "An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted every year, costing households, businesses and farms about $218 billion annually."

There are so many things wrong with this.

First of all it's a waste of money for the households who throw out good food. Second, it's a waste of all of the resources that went into growing the food, including the animals who gave their lives for the meal. Third, there's something very wrong with throwing out food when one in eight Americans struggle with hunger.

Supermarkets are just as guilty of this unnecessary waste as consumers. About 10% of all food waste are supermarket products thrown out before they've reached their expiration date.

Three years ago, France took big steps to combat food waste by making a law that bans grocery stores from throwing away edible food.According to the new ordinance, stores can be fined for up to $4,500 for each infraction.

Previously, the French threw out 7.1 million tons of food. Sixty-seven percent of which was tossed by consumers, 15% by restaurants, and 11% by grocery stores.

This has created a network of over 5,000 charities that accept the food from supermarkets and donate them to charity. The law also struck down agreements between supermarkets and manufacturers that prohibited the stores from donating food to charities.

"There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away," Jacques Bailet, head of the French network of food banks known as Banques Alimentaires, told NPR.

It's expected that similar laws may spread through Europe, but people are a lot less confident at it happening in the United States. The USDA believes that the biggest barrier to such a program would be cost to the charities and or supermarkets.

"The logistics of getting safe, wholesome, edible food from anywhere to people that can use it is really difficult," the organization said according to Gizmodo. "If you're having to set up a really expensive system to recover marginal amounts of food, that's not good for anybody."

Plus, the idea may seem a little too "socialist" for the average American's appetite.

"The French version is quite socialist, but I would say in a great way because you're providing a way where they [supermarkets] have to do the beneficial things not only for the environment, but from an ethical standpoint of getting healthy food to those who need it and minimizing some of the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come when food ends up in a landfill," Jonathan Bloom, the author of American Wasteland, told NPR.

However, just because something may be socialist doesn't mean it's wrong. The greater wrong is the insane waste of money, damage to the environment, and devastation caused by hunger that can easily be avoided.

france food waste recycling charity
Planet

A mom told women they shouldn't wear leggings for her sons' sake and instead got a lesson on not policing women's bodies.

Policing women's bodies — and by consequence their clothes — is nothing new to women across the globe. But this mother's "legging problem" is particularly ridiculous.

What someone wears, regardless of gender, is a personal choice. Sadly, many folks like Maryann White, mother of four sons, think women's attire — particularly women's leggings are a threat to men.

While sitting in mass at the University of Notre Dame, White was aghast by the spandex attire the young women in front of her were sporting.

Keep Reading Show less
More

Men share times when they've stood up to misogynistic behavior.

Men are sharing examples of how they step up and step in when they see problematic behaviors in their peers, and people are here for it.

Twitter user "feminist next door" posed an inquiry to her followers, asking "good guys" to share times they saw misogyny or predatory behavior and did something about it. "What did you say," she asked. "What are your suggestions for the other other men in this situation?" She added a perfectly fitting hashtag: #NotCoolMan.

Not only did the good guys show up for the thread, but their stories show how men can interrupt situations when they see women being mistreated and help put a stop to it.

Keep Reading Show less
Culture