In October, the Daily Mail published yet another nonsensical attack on Prince Harry. The story was that people within the Royal Marines community were super-mad at Harry for “abandoning” them to live in America. Some high-up muckety-muck in the Marines claimed he wrote a letter to Harry describing how BIG MAD he was at Harry for all of this America-moving nonsense, and the dude was basically like “Harry needs to abandon his wife and child so he can come back and represent the Royal Marines.” The Daily Mail of course added another layer, which was that Prince William wants the role of Captain General of Royal Marines. It’s an honorary position and one which Harry held for several years… before Queen Elizabeth stripped him of all of his military honors and titles as part of the Sussexit this year.
Soon after the Mail published the story, Omid Scobie’s sources (likely Harry himself) said that, actually, Harry had been in touch with many people within the Royal Marines and that he had not received this alleged letter. Then, in November, Harry sued the Daily Mail over the story, which plainly misrepresented everything. Well… now the Mail is offering an apology:
After Prince Harry launched libel action against Associated Newspapers in November over a “false and defamatory” report claiming he had fallen out of touch with the British Marines, the Mail on Sunday have printed an apology and correction… pic.twitter.com/iwGc5BxFR3
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) December 27, 2020
Here’s one thing I don’t understand: as soon as the Queen stripped Harry of all of his military titles, he really had no obligation (in any technical sense) to reply to any letter or return any call. Harry continues to reach out to servicemen and veterans because he gives a sh-t, because that’s his life’s work, regardless of title. But why was it even a thing that Harry hadn’t replied to a letter he hadn’t received from a military branch which he was no longer connected to? Anyway, this was literally the LEAST the DM could do, offering this correction almost two months after the false story, and after Harry sued them. I’m curious, though, why the DM didn’t drag this out like they’re dragging out Meghan’s lawsuit.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Funny how this isn’t a story on their website!!
I remember when hard copy newspapers were still top sellers and whnever they had to issue an apology you would need a magnifying glass to see it.
yet the Daily Fail & its readers are always thrashing H&M
Of course it won’t be a front page story. They have form for hiding and burying apologies in the far inner recesses of their newspaper. Harry has declared his intent and is determined to see things through, win or lose. Remember when he spoke about not taking the safer option? He meant every word.
I could only find it through a link from Twitter, and once on it, you can’t leave any comments. because I tried and I asked them exactly that, what isn’t this front and center like the accusations. F&ckers!
@Keen Kate … Just search for Clarifications and Corrections’ at the DM site and you should pull up the retraction.
Exactly. If it were not for Celebitchy, l would not have known. The agenda of the Fail is crystal clear.
“I’m curious, though, why the DM didn’t drag this out like they’re dragging out Meghan’s lawsuit.”
because despite everything H is still white…….only his wife and kid aren’t
The British tabloids are like a weird, insanely jealous ex girlfriend. They treated him like shit but now desperately want him back and will stop at nothing to get their way.
@ Gobo, more like the possessive ex-boyfriend who stalks you and disparages you to everyone who will listen and print outlandish lies and post your nude photos!
They want to get Meghan and her toxic father in the same room.
Her father is a coward. He will be too scared to face anyone.
Because it’s his wife that they hate. They want to name her friends and dig up dirt and print it. They want to put her in court and force her to speak like a puppet. They want to pit her against her father and spew more fabrications. They are vile.
Because they had no case to argue. They printed lies which were easily disproved. Meghan’s case is about more than defamation and the Mail is getting a lot of mileage from it.
I bet the apology was written in the tiniest font buried deep within its pages never to be found. When the DM online have to publish something that they don’t want to, it’s pushed so far down the timeline that it’s never seen, and they limit the comments, just like with every Andrew story. Retractions should receive the same coverage and position as the original story.
@February-Pisces … I’ve posted the DM link up stream in a comment to @Keen Kate.
Edited to write: Okay, my comment isn’t there anymore so just search for ‘Clarifications and Corrections’ at the DM site and you should pull it up.
I’ve pasted it into two comments on ‘royal’ articles in the current Mailonline.
The ‘administrative error’ was the Cambridge’s office staff not fowarding the letter from Lord Dannatt. It had been sent to the office of what was still technically the joint foundation.
I can’t find the apology/correction.
@Princessk … Enter ‘Clarifications and Corrections’ in the Daily Mail search engine and you will pull it up. Don’t include anything about Harry or Meghan, just ‘Clarifications and Corrections.’ The DM really didn’t want people to find this retraction.
I think Harry will continue with this lawsuit and bring action for anything else the Mail lies about until they apologize to Meghan also and concede in that case.
Apparently he is still continuing his lawsuit, despite the apology.
Yup, and good for him. They were wrong, and they are still running a smear campaign to destroy his rep in the UK (just the UK, he’s set in the rest of the world I think). He knows that and is pushing back.
It may be that the Mail has failed to fulfil the apology condition. An apology for defamation by a newspaper has to be published in a prominent way. Although it can be found by searching there are no comments recorded which suggests it was published for a matter of seconds and then withdrawn.
He has other claims against the Mail including phone hacking.
I love the line “we now understand…..” (GMAFB!) as though it was an honest mistake, a misinterpretation v.s. a blatant lie.
The tabloids are founded on lies. They are propaganda machines that serve many purposes, chief of which is to control the narrative and subsequently public feelings about a subject. Harry and Meghan were meant to take it all on the chin and if they couldn’t clink away into obscurity and not challenge back. They were also not meant to have supporters who could read between the lines and keep receipts. Let’s just say some reporters are having a nervous break down as we speak. So much weeping and wailing.
And who wants to bet that the DM hired this guy to write that letter? They are known to go that low.
I hope H&M sue everytime they are libeled. Every time. Costing papers money and their “face” is the only way to stop them.
Weren’t there trial balloons for both Anne and William? My guess is behind the scenes the military were not welcoming. Can these honors only go to the rf? Phillip and Harry both are deserving but I imagine there are people from the military who are equally deserving.
I wonder if the original intent was to pass them on to Andrew?
I think it was originally supposed to go to Anne. She obviously has no military experience but she’s been married to military men and from what I can see is liked in her honorary military positions. I think William came along after and decided he wanted it after they didnt immediately give it to Anne(probably because they were hoping Harry would fail and come back with his tail between his legs) and that’s where these stories are coming from.
I would love for a British CS who knows about all of this to answer: do they need a member of the rf? no General or Admiral can take over H’s role?
H is clearly not coming back; someone else would have to take over…..
He was only stripped of the honorary military titles that the queen gave him. Not “all of his military titles.” He kept and will keep the ones he EARNED through his actual military service (unless the military strips them for some sort of unbecoming or illegal behavior, which isn’t happening). I think it’s important to make this distinction because the queen has no ability to strip the titles/honors/promotions he earned through his military service.
Thank you! I love celebitchy but the way they peddle and repeat the same inaccuracies annoys me sometimes. H was only stripped of his honorary military titles. The others he earned through service and the queen can’t touch them
Hi Royalwatcher, thanks for this distinction, would you happen to know which are the honorary titles the Queen took away? and what he kept/earned from his actual military service? I noticed he wasn’t in uniform at the laying of the Remembrance Day wreath, I assumed he couldn’t wear it anymore?
Subject to correction I believe his honorary title ‘Captain General of the Royal Marines’ was taken away but his earned title/rank in the army is ‘Major’ which cannot be taken away.
The letter was from Lord Dannatt former Head of the British Army. I suspect he sent the letter to BP thinking it would reach Harry but it wasn’t forwarded to Harry’s office in London. Lord Dannatt was the guy who was involved in getting Harry deployed to Afghanistan after the Royal Family forced the Army to cancel arrangements for him to go to Iraq some years earlier. It was probably very disappointing for Harry to see someone he respected try to embarrass him in the papers. Lord Dannatt has since refused to comment further on his letter to Harry in the press.
Another thing Harry is going ahead with the lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday despite their correction and apology. Harry does not deal with IPSO (media complaints authority) so it would seem that, in the hopes of Harry dropping his lawsuit, the Mail on Sunday took it upon themselves to apologise and give a donation.
It seems so weird to me that the Mail didnt actually try to broker a settlement with Harry’s lawyers but just though they could push out this half assed apology and donation and have it dealt with. They continue to underestimate Harry (and his pettiness) at their own peril.
Because this is a pretty serious allegation that effectively amounts to defamation.
Also in the UK, the way a military man conducts himself is very important to his fellow officers. This man effectively was trying to disgrace Harry and I suspect someone put him up to it hence the current lack of comment. The allegations made are not far off accusing someone of desertion which is a very serious offence. This action is all about honor and integrity and Harry has every right to be upset. I can see a huge payout coming from this one as sources were easily verifiable by calling BP.
Also I just want to point out that the Queen did not strip Harry of anything. Harry voluntarily gave up his honorary titles as it was the respectful thing to do. Again it goes back to code of behavior as a Military man. Keeping those honors and titles whilst not in active service is akin to wearing another man’s medals.
See, Lord Dannatt sent it not to just Harry, but to Captain General. I mean, yeah, formally it was meant for Harry. But if it was a letter to Captain General of Royal Marines and Harry is CG no more – courtiers may have no right to give it to Harry, I guess. If it came to London office courtiers also might forget *cough* (at least they could let him know the fact of letter’s existance). Or someone wanted Harry didn’t know about the letter to leak “the-vile-Harry” story. Anyway I am glad to see Harry gets an apologize – even if the apologize shamefully called “clarifications and corrections”.
Yeah, that —- probable —- £1 donation they probably made will go far. Saying you’ve donated and stating the amount are 2 entirely different things. The DM probably believe they score points by just printing they’ve made a donation. Hopefully, Harry will get substantially better damages by the end of this suit.
If willNot were to get Harry military title, he would do exactly with them what he does with everything else he is head of, absolutely nothing. So the military would be better off saying to petty Betty, thanks but no thanks for willnot , we would prefer to keep the ginger doer instead
I think this story is mostly a way to deflect from the DM apologizing to Harry.
The Windsors have shot themselves in the foot. They never should have let the rota behave that way to drive Meghan away and deflect from William’s affair and Andrew’s criminality. Publishing illegal information about the Cotswold home in the Times cannot be undone. Harry and Meghan have no reason to trust them ever again.
I just wanted to ask, is DM apologizing to either of the Sussexes a sign of the Apocalypse, or are we waiting for them to apologize to Meghan? I won’t lie, I’ve been nervously waiting for the world to end ever since Trump and Pelosi publicly agreed on something. Even though Trump only agreed about $2000 relief amount to stick it to Mitch McConnell.