Harry and Meghan were seemingly snubbed by a legendary music producer last week (Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest move looks innocent enough at first glance – but it betrays a twisted relationship with the public that will never work in their favour. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made headlines when they were seemingly snubbed by legendary music producer David Foster at a glitzy red carpet event last week.
A clip showed Meghan reach out towards Mr Foster, who walked straight past her without so much as meeting her eye. The couple’s well-publicised affinity for A-list friends immediately sparked discourse over the meaning behind the apparent rebuff.
But just as quickly as the clip captured the public imagination, an official statement was issued to People Magazine disputing any claims of a cold shoulder. Mr Foster’s strongly-worded correcting of the narrative hit out at “media clickbait” and “hurtful lies” while heaping praise on the duke and duchess.
A clip appearing to show David Foster ignoring Meghan quickly went viral (Image: -)
“They both, graciously and selflessly, gave their time and went beyond to engage with everyone,” he said. “Harry and Meghan are dear friends of mine. Anyone watching can see there was no awkward moment and certainly no snub.”
While the encounter may indeed have been misinterpreted en-masse, the framing of Harry and Meghan as faultless victims is a tired narrative that has never helped them in the past.
Unsurprisingly, the immediate public reaction was not to take Mr Foster at his word, but rather speculate that Sussex staffers had frantically worked the phones to secure the glowing tribute. It is an embarrassing optic for all involved.
Whether or not Harry and Meghan’s team actually begged for the statement is almost besides the point. The real crisis they face is that their track record of meticulous image-crafting is so transparent that the public immediately assumed they did.
It was just last month that Meghan came under fire for sharing a glimpse into the Sussexes’ family trip to Britain, including an apparent visit to Princess Diana’s grave at the Althorp Estate, a move that flew in the face of their incessant pleas for privacy and security in the UK.
In that instance, the urge to self-promote overpowered any other and left the couple looking like hypocrites. In the case of snub-gate, the insistence on everything being sunshine and rainbows, with Meghan and Harry “gracious, selfless” and under attack reads as major overcompensation straight out of their own camp.
Meanwhile, their inability to resist dropping insider lines to the press about a highly-anticipated reunion with King Charles in July was also said to have angered Buckingham Palace.
The duke and duchess want to live off their royal associations but have shown themselves consistently unable to immunise themselves against the inevitable scrutiny that comes with life in the public eye.
They will have to learn at some point that they are not doing themselves any favours. Nobody thinks of them as paragons of virtue and benevolence. The sooner they realise that and stop responding to any criticism with empty platitudes that only harm their cause, the better.