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The BBC Apologizes for Putting Prince Harry in Danger in This Hateful Way


  • Published on
    September 19, 2019

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been inundated with bad press and hateful comments since the moment they got married. No matter what Meghan Markle does, be it something as small as wearing jeans to a tennis match, she gets treated like she has committed treason.

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Today, we are excited to be able to announce details for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s upcoming tour to Africa! • In just two weeks, Their Royal Highnesses will embark on this official tour focusing on community, grassroots leadership, women’s and girls’ rights, mental health, HIV/AIDS and the environment. This programme has been many months in the making, and The Duke and Duchess are eager to focus their energies on the great work being done in Southern Africa. From meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu to joining ‘Waves for Change’ on Monwabisi Beach, the South Africa programme will be educational and inspiring. The Duke is especially proud to continue the legacy left by his mother with her work in Angola as he joins Halo Trust again in an effort to rid the world of landmines. HRH will also travel to Malawi where he will check in on the British Army’s partnership with African Parks and will be working on the ground supporting local communities. The Duke is particularly proud to be able to deliver an exciting new initiative, a Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy three-country partnership which he designed and consulted with Governments in Namibia, Botswana and Angola to protect forest and wildlife corridors around the Okavango Delta. The Duchess will be working with local organisations to promote women and girls’ health and education, entrepreneurship and leadership. With such a textured culture and history, Their Royal Highnesses are grateful for the opportunity to connect with those on the ground in Southern Africa and to be inspired by the work being done and learn how they can be better supported. As President and Vice President of The Queens Commonwealth Trust and The Duke’s role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, The Duke and Duchess cannot wait to meet with young leaders mobilising change and adding to the beauty of these Commonwealth countries • “We look forward to seeing you soon!” • Photo ©️ PA images / Tim Graham – Getty Images / @Sentebale /@AfricanParksNetwork / @YouthAlert

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While all royals are in the spotlight, Markle certainly seems to be getting treated a bit more harshly than the others. Some people have attributed this intense scrutiny to racism, being that Markle is half black.

And now that Harry is married to Markle, he has been receiving some backlash as well. Some that even the BBC had to apologize for.

What did the BBC do?

The BBC recently had to apologize to Harry for failing to warn him before broadcasting an image from a group that called him a “race traitor.” The image, that was posted on social media by a neo-Nazi group, showed Harry with a gun pointed at his head. The collage also pictured a swastica and blood spatter.

“See ya later race traitor. #racetraitor,” the image was captioned.

The image was used as part of an article about the Sonnenkrieg Division. After posting the article, the BBC reduced the size of the image before ultimately removing it altogether.

After the article was published, the creator of the image, Michal Szewczuk, was sentenced to four years and three months in a young offender institution for two counts of encouraging terrorism and five counts of possession of terrorist material.

How did Prince Harry feel about the image?

Obviously, the Duke was not happy about the image being shown on such a big platform.

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This evening, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended #TheLionKing European premiere in London at the Odeon Theatre. In celebration of the film’s release, The Walt Disney Company announced #ProtectThePride, a global conservation campaign to support efforts protecting the rapidly diminishing lion population across Africa. As a part of their commitment to this cause, Disney also made a donation to The Duke of Sussex’s upcoming environment & community initiative which will be formally announced this autumn. The Duke and Duchess are committed to advancing conservation efforts across Africa and around the world, and working with communities to ensure a sustainable future for the planet. This evening Their Royal Highnesses had the pleasure of meeting the cast and creative team behind the film, as well as supporters of @africanparksnetwork, of which The Duke is President. Photo credit: PA images / Getty images – Chris Jackson

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“The incident raised ‘serious security concerns’ and ’caused his family great distress specifically while his wife was nearly five months pregnant'” a spokesperson for Harry told The Guardian.

Initially, the BBC failed to listen to the Duke’s complaint and said that the use of the image was in the public interest. But now, they are apologizing for not giving Harry a warning before the image was posted.

“Before publishing seriously offensive material we need to be vigilant in balancing the impact on individuals against the wider good which may be served by publication,” the BBC said in a statement.

Does Prince Harry forgive the BBC?

Prince Harry is reportedly happy to have received the letter of apology.

“His Royal Highness welcomes the letter from the BBC relating to the shocking image published by BBC News last year as part of a report on the activities of a British neo-Nazi group with links in the US,” a spokesperson for Harry said.

“His Royal Highness raised the issue with Ofcom about the rebroadcasting of this racist image due to his concerns that hateful and dangerous propaganda had been spread globally by the world’s most important public service broadcaster. Due to the credibility of the BBC, their choice to publicize this material created an open door for all other media to reproduce it.”

But he still does not agree with them posting the image in the first place.

“His Royal Highness maintains that instead of reproducing the image and giving a platform to something that would have only been seen by a few, it should have been described so that others would not potentially be influenced by such an inflammatory image,” the spokesperson continued.