James Blunt has defended Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle against ‘vitriolic’ media coverage, which he claims is “leaning on bullying.”
The singer, 45, served alongside the Duke of Sussex in the army and attended his wedding to Meghan last year.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain this morning, Blunt told hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard that the royal was a “phenomenal soldier” and praised his charity work.
“I do know [the couple], I might have spoken briefly about it,” he said.
“What I think I can see is they seem to be on the cover of the newspapers a lot and it seems to be quite vitriolic quite a lot of the time.
“Him, I know from the army, he’s a very nice man, a really phenomenal soldier who does a lot of work for other people, for charities, for veterans, the Sentebale charity for children in Africa.”
He added: “I think under great scrutiny they seem to try a lot for other people. So the vitriol seems a bit like leaning on bullying to me.”
Blunt’s comments come after the Duchess of Sussex admitted to struggling with becoming a new mother under intense media scrutiny.
She revealed she felt vulnerable while pregnant with her first child Archie and then while she was “just trying to be a new mom” in an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby during the couple’s recent tour of southern Africa.
“Not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she told Bradby.
“Look, any woman - especially when they are pregnant - you’re really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, you know?
“And especially as a woman, it’s a lot. So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed.
“And also, thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK. But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
In the same ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Harry said that media attention brought up negative memories of his mother’s relationship with the press.
“I think being part of this family, in this role, in this job… every single time I see a camera, every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash, it takes me straight back,” he said.
Good Morning Britain is on ITV weekdays from 6am.
