In this week’s royal update, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a new Netflix special coming soon, Princess Diana’s former butler paid damages and Jeremy Clarkson opts to not apologise to Meghan Markle.
Latest royal news
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Netflix special
Following the success of the Duke and Duchess’ Netflix series, titled Harry and Meghan, in which the couple detailed their anger against the British media and the rifts they have with their family members, they’re doing it all again on the streaming platform, however, this time for more positive reasons.
Despite public opinion divided on the couple’s Netflix series which aired earlier this month, they are now focusing on their philanthropy work in a documentary titled Live to Lead.
The documentary will focus on leaders who are driving change in their fields of work and making an impactful difference for their communities and even globally.
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The trailer of Live to Lead was released by Netflix on Monday.
It sees leaders such as climate change activist Greta Thunberg, feminist Gloria Steinem, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, South Africa’s national rugby caption Siya Kolisi, and many others.
Harry says in the trailer that he was inspired by leaders such as the late struggle icon Nelson Mandela.
“This was inspired by Nelson Mandela, who once said, ‘What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived’.”
“It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead,” Meghan adds.
Live to Lead will debut on the streaming service on New Year’s Eve on 31 December.
Meghan and Harry serve as executive producers on the series.
Diana’s former butler paid damages
Princess Diana’s former butler was on Tuesday given a public apology and paid substantial damages by the publisher of the Daily Mirror newspaper over phone hacking and the “repeated invasion of his privacy”.
Paul Burrell’s successful legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) is the latest in a series of similar claims brought by public figures and celebrities against British tabloids.
Burrell took MGN to court after being targeted by private investigators instructed by the publisher and had his voicemails intercepted.
“I am pleased to announce that the defendant has now accepted responsibility for its unlawful actions, admitted liability and has agreed to apologise to the claimant for the repeated invasion of his privacy,” said Burrell’s lawyer Francis Leonard.
Leonard said that MGN had targeted Burrell’s voicemail messages and also instructed private investigators at least three times between 2001 and 2002.
This led to the publication of “numerous articles concerning the claimant arising from unlawfully obtained information which severely impacted his reputation”, he added.
“Between 1995 and 2008 the claimant was targeted by the defendant because he was a close friend and trusted confidante to Princess Diana and then subsequently because of his role within the public sphere following his departure from the royal household,” Leonard said.
Jeremy Clarkson doesn’t apologise to Meghan
Royalists and fierce critics of Meghan Markle have come after her even more, clearly shown in the very critical response to her docu-series. Some have said the column by popular TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson was “insulting”, “vile” and incited violence against Meghan.
Clarkson is well known for his appearance in the global hit car show Top Gear for over 10 years.
The journalist wrote a column that was published by The Sun in which he said he “hated” Meghan and made reference to the infamous Game of Thrones scene, in which people publicly shamed a person whilst throwing “excrement at her.”
There was much public backlash against Clarkson, with a growing number of calls for accountability and fallout.
Responding to the criticism, Clarkson wrote on Twitter: “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.”
Many commentators were not happy with Clarkson’s non-apology. The Sun has taken the column down on their website.
Compiled by Sandisiwe Mbhele. Additional reporting by AFP
