3-19

19.

In those first hours and days of November 2016 there was a new low every few minutes. I was

shocked, and scolded myself for being shocked. And for being unprepared. I’d been braced¹ for the

usual madness, the standard libels, but I hadn’t anticipated this level of unrestrained lying.

Above all, I hadn’t been ready for the racism². Both the dog-whistle racism and the glaring,

vulgar, in-your-face racism.

The Daily Mail took the lead. Its headline: Harry³’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton.

Subhead: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed—so will he be dropping in for tea?

Another tabloid⁴ jumped into the fray⁵ with this jaw-dropper: Harry to marry into gangster⁶

royalty⁷?

My face froze. My blood stopped. I was angry, but more: ashamed. My Mother Country?

Doing this? To her? To us? Really?

As if its headline wasn’t disgraceful enough, the Mail went on to say that Compton had been

the scene of forty-seven crimes in the last week alone. Forty-seven, imagine that. Never mind that

Meg had never lived in Compton, never even lived near it. She’d lived half an hour away, as far

from Compton as Buckingham Palace was from Windsor Castle. But forget that: Even if she had

lived in Compton, years ago or currently, so what? Who cared how many crimes were committed

in Compton, or anywhere else, so long as Meg wasn’t the one committing them?

A day or two later the Mail weighed in again, this time with an essay by the sister of London’s

former mayor Boris Johnson, predicting that Meg would…do something…genetically…to the

Royal Family. “If there is issue from her alleged⁸ union with Prince Harry, the Windsors will

thicken their watery⁹, thin blue blood and Spencer pale skin and ginger¹⁰ hair with some rich and

exotic DNA¹¹.”

Sister Johnson further opined that Meg’s mother, Doria, was from “the wrong side of the

tracks,” and as stone-cold proof she cited Doria’s dreadlocks. This filth¹² was being blasted out to

three million Britons, about Doria, lovely Doria, born in Cleveland, Ohio, graduate of Fairfax

High School, in a quintessentially middle-class part of Los Angeles.

The Telegraph entered the fray with a piece slightly less disgusting, but equally insane, in

which the writer examined from all angles the burning question of whether or not I was legally

able to marry a (gasp) divorcée.

God, they were already into her past and looking at her first marriage.

Never mind that my father, a divorcé, was currently married to a divorcée, or my aunt,

Princess Anne, was a remarried divorcée—the list went on. Divorce in 2016 was deemed by the

British press to be a scarlet¹³ letter.

Next The Sun combed through Meg’s social media, discovered an old photo of her with a

friend and a professional hockey player, and created an elaborate yarn¹⁴ about Meg and the hockey

player having a torrid affair. I asked Meg about it.

No, he was hooking up with my friend. I introduced them.

So I asked the Palace lawyer to contact this paper and tell them the story was categorically

false, and defamatory, and to remove it immediately.

The paper’s response was a shrug¹⁵ and a raised middle finger.

You’re being reckless, the lawyer told the newspaper’s editors.

Yawn, said the editors.

We already knew for a fact that the papers had put private investigators¹⁶ onto Meg, and onto

everyone in her circle, in her life, even many not in her life, so we knew that they were experts on

her background and boyfriends. They were Meg-ologists; they knew more about Meg than anyone

in the world apart from Meg, and thus they knew that every word they’d written about her and the

hockey player was hot garbage. But they continued to answer the Palace lawyer’s repeated

warnings with the same non-answers, which amounted to a mocking taunt¹⁷:

We. Don’t. Care.

I huddled¹⁸ with the lawyer, trying to work out how to protect Meg from this attack and all the

others. I spent most of every day, from the moment I opened my eyes until long past midnight,

trying to make it stop.

Sue them, I kept telling the lawyer, over and over. He explained over and over that suing was

what the papers wanted. They were hungry for me to sue, because if I sued that would confirm the

relationship, and then they could really go to town.

I felt wild with rage. And guilt¹⁹. I’d infected Meg, and her mother, with my contagion²⁰,

otherwise known as my life. I’d promised her that I’d keep her safe, and I’d already dropped her

into the middle of this danger.

When I wasn’t with the lawyer, I was with Kensington Palace’s comms person, Jason. He was

very smart, but a tad too cool about this unfolding crisis for my liking²¹. He urged me to do nothing.

You’re just going to feed the beast. Silence is the best option.

But silence wasn’t an option. Of all the options, silence was the least desirable, the least

defensible. We couldn’t just let the press continue to do this to Meg.

Even after I’d convinced him that we needed to do something, say something, anything, the

Palace said no. Courtiers blocked us hard. Nothing can be done, they said. And therefore nothing

will be done.

I accepted this as final. Until I read an essay in the Huffington Post. The essayist said the mild

reaction of Britons to this explosion of racism was to be expected, since they were the heirs of

racist²² colonialists. But what was truly “unforgivable,” she added, was my silence.

Mine.

I showed the essay to Jason, said we needed a course correction immediately. No more debate,

no more discussion. We needed a statement out there.

Within a day we had a draft. Strong, precise, angry, honest. I didn’t think it would be the end,

but maybe the beginning of the end.

I read it one last time and asked Jason to let it fly.

1 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

5 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

6 gangster   

n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒

参考例句：

• The gangster's friends bought off the police witness.那匪徒的朋友买通了警察方面的证人。
• He is obviously a gangster,but he pretends to be a saint.分明是强盗，却要装圣贤。

7 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

10 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

11 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

12 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

13 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

14 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

15 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

16 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 taunt   

n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄

参考例句：

• He became a taunt to his neighbours.他成了邻居们嘲讽的对象。
• Why do the other children taunt him with having red hair?为什么别的小孩子讥笑他有红头发？

18 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

19 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

20 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

21 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

22 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。