Female British Politicians Write Letter of Support to Meghan Markle
- Meghan Markle has been sent a letter signed by more than 70 female MPs (members of parliament, or politicians, in the United Kingdom).
- The MPs collectively support the Duchess of Sussex against the media scrutiny she’s been under and the false stories published about her.
- Per the letter, “As women Members of Parliament from all backgrounds, we stand with you in saying it cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.”
Since the airing of the TV documentary Meghan & Harry: An African Journey, multiple people have spoken out to defend the Duchess of Sussex. And now, more than 70 female members of parliament from Britain have also taken a stand against unfair reporting of Meghan Markle by the tabloids.
In an open letter, which Holly Lynch, MP, published on Twitter, 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.”
In the documentary about her royal tour of southern Africa, Meghan revealed to 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.” The duchess’s honesty about her struggle to deal with intense media scrutiny has understandably led many individuals to speak out in support of her.
The fact that the letter is signed by more than 70 female politicians from the United Kingdom shows that the support for Meghan is huge, with government officials taking the duchess’s plight seriously.
Read the letter in full 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Even more concerning still, we are calling out what can only be described as outdated, colonial undertones to some of these stories.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.”
Amy Mackelden is a freelance writer, editor, and disability activist. Her bylines include Harper’s BAZAAR, Nicki Swift, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, ELLE, The Independent, Bustle, Healthline, and HelloGiggles. She co-edited The Emma Press Anthology of Illness, and previously spent all of her money on Kylie Cosmetics.
