Though Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have long been at odds with the British media, the relationship seems to only be worsening after royal reporter Richard Palmer openly accused the couple of often giving out “not always accurate” information to news outlets.
Palmer began his statement by criticizing the Sussexes’ policy of not responding to a majority of mainstream British outlets, known as the Royal Rota. He pointed out that refusing to engage with newspapers only leads to more inaccurate stories since reporters are unable to fact-check their information with the Sussexes.
“It’s a problem for journalists trying to check facts because she and Harry won’t respond to several British newspapers,” he tweeted .
Moreover, the veteran journalist also claimed that even when they are able to get ahold of Meghan and Harry’s press office, they are not always given “accurate” information.
“But even when they do [respond], it’s not always accurate,” he added.
The comments come amid a major controversy surrounding changes made to the duke and duchess’ son Archie’s birth certificate. A month after Archie was born, both parents’ names were amended on the document. Harry’s was changed to include the word “Prince” in his title. Meghan’s was changed so that her two first names were removed and she was listed as “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.”
Meghan and Harry’s team made the first public remarks about the change, claiming that the Palace had “dictated” the amendment. However, aides at Buckingham Palace denied the claims in an extraordinary rebuke, as was previously covered by The Inquisitr .
This is not the first time that the Santa Barbara-based couple have been hit with allegations of untruthfulness, with some even noted in court records. For example, the duchess had a number of inconsistencies in her sworn statements in a lawsuit against Associated Papers Limited concerning a letter written to her father.
In one example, she originally claimed that she had only discussed the letter’s existence — and not its contents — with one friend. Later, Meghan admitted that she did discuss “some of its contents” with both this friend as well as a second one, in addition to her mother, her husband, “the [Kensington Palace] Communications Team and her solicitor,” per Newsweek .
That said, supporters of Harry and Meghan have argued that the media is the untruthful party. For example, the pair recently won a lawsuit against the Daily Mail which accused Harry of turning his back on the military. Harry’s legal team argued that the prince had kept in touch in a private capacity and won both a retraction and an apology from the newspaper, as covered by The Guardian .