The Sussexes’ noble experiment in living a quiet life, free from the glare of publicity attached to a royal title, continues. First they started a war with the British tabloids, fighting them over the misuse of private information in court while grandly declaring a new policy of “zero engagement” with a number of outlets. Then they moved to Los Angeles, a paparazzi-free zone perfect for people trying to reclaim their privacy. Now they have reportedly cooperated with a tell-all biography – Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family – that is coming out in August.
According to a press release, Finding Freedom dispels “the many rumours and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond” and was written with “unique access” and “the participation of those closest to the couple”. It is unclear how involved Harry and Meghan were with the book, but the Mail on Sunday claims they sat for interviews with the writers, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand (representatives for the couple deny this). Given their record, one imagines that, if they weren’t happy with the biography coming out, they would have issued a statement unequivocally saying so.
If Harry and Meghan did give a green light to this biography, I can’t understand why. Let’s be clear: the racism and malice directed at Meghan by parts of the British media has been horrific. The pair have every right to try to take control of their narrative. But cooperating with a biography entitled Finding Freedom may not be the best way to do so. They had a row with their family and relocated; they didn’t escape persecution from a war-torn country.
Maybe before going full-steam ahead with their rebrand, our fearless freedom finders should take a bit of a breather, lie low and avoid baiting the media. After all, there is a fair bit going on in the world; they may soon find that we are not all as desperate to hear about them as they seem to think.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
This article was amended on 7 May 2020 to change a grammatical error
