Female MPs In The UK Write Letter Of Support To Meghan
Female MPs from across the House of Commons in the UK have written a letter of support to the Duchess of Sussex to express their “solidarity” amid the constant press attention she’s been receiving.
In the letter, which was published by MP Holly Lynch, a large group of women from different political parties joined together to support Duchess Meghan. The letter referenced the “distasteful and misleading nature of the stories” written about Meghan, describing many reports about the duchess as “an invasion of your privacy.”
Signatories include Labour’s Jess Phillips, Yvette Cooper, Diane Abbott, and Tulip Siddiq; the Conservative MPs Tracey Crouch, Gillian Keegan and the former Tory Antoinette Sandbach; and the Liberal Democrats Wera Hobhouse, Angela Smith and Layla Moran.
The letter of support reads: “As women MPs of all political persuasions, we wanted to express our solidarity with you in taking a stand against the often distasteful and misleading nature of the stories printed in a number of our national newspapers concerning you, your character and your family.
“On occasions, stories and headlines have represented an invasion of your privacy and have sought to cast aspersions about your character, without any good reasons as far as we can see.
“Even more concerning still, we are calling out what can only be described as outdated, colonial undertones to some of these stories. As women members of parliament from all backgrounds, we stand with you in saying it cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.”
They added: “Although we find ourselves being women in public life in a very different way to you, we share an understanding of the abuse and intimidation which is now so often used as a means of disparaging women in public office from getting on with our very important work.
“With this is mind we expect the national media to have the integrity to know when a story is in the national interest, and when it is seeking to tear a woman down for no apparent reason.
“You have our assurances that we stand with you in solidarity on this. We will use the means at our disposal to ensure that our press accept your right to privacy and show respect, and that their stories reflect the truth.”
The letter comes after Meghan opened up about struggling to deal with the repercussions of being a new mother in the spotlight.
“I never thought this would be easy but I thought it would be fair,” she said of British tabloid coverage. “And that is the part that is hard to reconcile.”
In a rare move, during the couple’s recent tour of South Africa, Prince Harry revealed they were taking legal action against certain British tabloid press for inappropriate articles about his wife.
“Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences,” he said in a statement; “a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.”