Since the Duchess of Sussex announced she would be taking legal action against the Mail on Sunday and admitted to struggling with her newfound life as a royal in the TV documentary Meghan & Harry: An African Journey prominent figures around the globe have voiced their support of the Duchess.
In the documentary, Markle told ITV’s Tom Bradby “I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile.”
Now more than 70 female members of the British parliament have decided to take a stand too, signing their names to an open letter against the unfair reporting of Meghan Markle by the tabloids.
MP Holly Lynch published the letter on Twitter. Signed by more than 70 female MPs from various political parties, the letter declares their decision to stand in solidarity with the Duchess of Sussex and referenced the “distasteful and misleading nature of the stories” written about Markle.
Women MPs from all political parties have put aside our differences to stand in solidarity with the Duchess of Sussex today and are sending her this open letter. pic.twitter.com/ytLHG5qPf4
— Holly Lynch MP (@HollyLynch5) October 29, 2019
The letter criticises recent stories published about the Duchess of Sussex, calling them “outdated” and “colonial”.
“It cannot be allowed to go unchallenged,” the letter signed by 72 cross-party MPs says.
Read the full letter below:
“As women MPs of 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 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 reason 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Even more concerning still, we are calling out what can only be described as outdated, colonial undertones to some of these stories.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.
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 the public office from getting on with very important work.
With this in 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.”
