Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (courtesy Northern Ireland Office via Wikimedia)
There apparently are many people who avidly follow the doings and sayings of the British royals, including the current spat between Prince Harry, his former actress wife Meghan Markle and the rest of the royalty, from Queen Elizabeth down to her staff members.
But a constitutional expert says the current high-profile dispute is now about more than the royals and their hurt feelings; it's about free speech.
While the United Kingdom and the United States have different forms of government, both regard freedom of speech as a fundamental liberty, tracing their foundations to the Magna Carta.
But Georgetown University Professor Jonathan Turley warns that the new wrinkle in the story that began Monday with Markle filing a complaint with the government about comments by British broadcaster Piers Morgan threatens that freedom.
In a column on his website, he noted that on Monday, Morgan, a co-host of ITV's "Good Morning Britain," committed "the apparently unpardonable sin of declaring on air that he didn’t believe a word of what Markle told Oprah in her recent interview."
Markle, who relinquished her royal duties with Harry and moved to the U.S. last year, unleashed a long list of accusations against other royals, including racism. She said she had thoughts of suicide because of perceived mistreatment by members in the British monarchy.
Morgan said bluntly on the British morning show: "Who did you go to? What did they say to you? I'm sorry, I don't believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report."
Morgan then stormed off the set, and he apparently no longer is employed by ITV.
Markle promptly complained to the U.K. government broadcasting overseers, the Office of Communications, which immediately announced an investigation into Morgan under its "harm and offense" rules.
Turley admits he's "one of the few people apparently on planet Earth with little interest in the royal family or the continuing travails of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle."
But he said the investigation is "another example of how both rights of the free press and free speech are under assault in the United Kingdom."
Morgan clarified his comments: "Let me just state for the record on my position on mental illness and on suicide. These are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help they need every time. And if they belong to an institution like the royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it. It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say. My real concern was a disbelief frankly … that she went to a senior member of the royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family. If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) the royal family have serious questions that need to be answered."
On Twitter on Monday, he wrote: "I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more times with my opinions."
He attached a quote from Winston Churchill: "Some people’s idea of [free speech] is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage."
Turley said he's "unabashedly against limits on free speech" and he's expressed concern about such restrictions in France, Germany and England.
"My problem is with the investigation which is based on the same type of sweeping, generalized language used to curtail free speech in the United Kingdom … Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. In the United Kingdom, free speech continues to be eroded, including speech directed at political and social issues like the death of George Floyd or 'misgendering' during interviews We have also seen this type for ill-defined language used to regulate advertising," he said.
"Rather than speak out against Morgan’s comments, tens of thousands of people demanded that the government punish him — and silence him. It is working. He was effectively fired and he is now going to be subject to an investigation. People have developed a taste for censorship and we have seen how that taste becomes an insatiable appetite. That is why this is not Markle or Morgan. It is about free speech and the free press."
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