Megxit: British tabloids all-in on Meghan and Harry's flight from royal family
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}England's tabloids are in meltdown mode over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to take “a step back” as senior members of the royal family, which one paper has dubbed “Megxit,” and all have condemned for a variety of reasons.
The couple said the controversial decision came "after many months of reflection and internal discussions," but the news apparently came as a complete surprise to royal insiders and followers alike, and the British papers were quick to publish dishy front-pages and an onslaught of accompanying coverage across social media.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The nation's three premier tabloids, which are commonly referred to as the “red top” papers, include The Sun, Daily Mirror and Daily Star. All thee have saturated Twitter with every possible angle, from rumors of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex being forced to “pay rent” to “unanswered questions” about their future. Rumors have spread about Markle returning to her acting career, while others have even accused Harry of stepping back because of the popular TV series “The Crown.”
An arrangement of UK daily newspapers photographed in London shows front page headlines reporting on the news that Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan plan to step back as "senior" members of the Royal Family. Charles. (Getty Images)
The Sun’s “Megxit” headline referred to the situation as a “civil war” among the royals and noted that the queen is “deeply upset.” The Mirror focused on the fact that “they didn’t even tell the Queen,” while the Daily Star oddly only featured the news in a secondary front-page story headlined, “The Royal formerly known as Prince.”
By Thursday morning, all three “red top” tabloids’ websites pivoted to lead stories about Kate Middleton’s 38th birthday being tarnished. The Sun noted a “stone-faced Kate” has her birthday “ruined” by the news, while the Mirror noted that the Duchess of Cambridge appeared “glum” while Prince Williams is “incandescent with rage” at his brother. The Star reported that Middleton put on a “brave face” as her birthday was “overshadowed” by Harry and Meghan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY SHARE DELIGHTFUL PHOTO OF BABY ARCHIE AHEAD OF THE NEW YEAR
The Daily Mail focused on the “Queen’s fury” and featured a scathing editorial by “Good Morning Britain” co-host Piers Morgan, a longtime critic of Markle who spent much of Wednesday mocking the situation on Twitter.
Morgan’s Daily Mail piece declared that the queen “must fire” the royal “hustlers,” comparing them to “scheming Kardashian-wannabes.” He began by asking, "Who the f--k do they think they are?”
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“I've seen some disgraceful royal antics in my time, but for pure arrogance, entitlement, greed, and willful disrespect, nothing has ever quite matched the behavior of the 'Duke and Duchess of Sussex,'" Morgan wrote. "I put inverted commas around those titles because I sincerely hope they won't exist much longer.”
Morgan then declared that if he were running the show, Harry and Meghan would be unceremoniously stripped of their royal titles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last year, Prince Harry sued the Daily Mirror and The Sun, accusing them of hacking his phone and stealing voice messages. The claims were filed in the High Court of Justice on Harry's behalf and involve "illegal interception of voicemail messages," Buckingham Palace told The Associated Press.
Fox News and The Sun parent News Corp share common ownership.
Fox News’ Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.