This Theory That Prince William Conspired Against Meghan Markle Is Next-Level Joffrey Insanity

The latest development in the world of royal rumors isn’t just ludicrously unfounded — it’s downright cruel. There is a new theory that Prince William conspired against Meghan Markle. This comes after the allegations that Prince William had an affair with Rose Hanbury. And, the Twitter fury over the British media ignoring the rumors while attacking Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. This new wild rumor suggests that William has been in cahoots with the U.K. media encouraging them to bash Meghan to keep his own misdeeds out of the public eye.

On April 21, The Times made claims that William was in contact with the British press — and supported their ongoing campaign against Meghan. The article focused on the alleged rift between the Sussex royals and the Cambridge royals, citing Prince Harry and Meghan’s “modern approach” as the cause, and setting off those ridiculous rumors that Harry and Meghan were being driven out of England and sent to Africa. The quote that ruffled everyone’s feathers from the article was the following:

This sense of embattlement has been entrenched by William’s decision to reach out to senior figures in the media as he prepares for kingship and by the apparent decision of those same newspapers to side with the palace over Meghan and Harry by peddling the most negative coverage of the duchess’s relationship with her father, Thomas Markle.

(Note: the below tweet incorrectly attributes the quote to a Telegraph reporter; it was printed in The Times.)

https://twitter.com/toscanar/status/1121283626539339776

While British media seems to be responsible for the original inflammatory article, it’s writer Nicole Cliffe who brought this alleged scandal to the attention of the American public. On her now-deleted Twitter acccount, Cliffe posted a thread detailing her information — and wild speculation — regarding William’s alleged affair. (The Twitter thread is no longer available, but images are posted in this article.) She also posted a round-up of her thoughts on site Nicole Knows, which many on Twitter have happily cited as a reference for their theories.

https://twitter.com/MvelaseP/status/1121445844258103296

Of course, if William did do something of the sort it would be despicable. But, like every other aspect of these rumors, there is absolutely no evidence to support it — only shadowy sources claiming inside knowledge of the royal family. And Twitter, in typical fashion, is not waiting for evidence before making its feelings known: feelings that, once again, assume the worst of Prince William.

https://twitter.com/laura65633135/status/1122436790839914502 https://twitter.com/dazzlegal/status/1121186287375925248 https://twitter.com/busychichi/status/1121190421990756352

While I can appreciate the public’s desire to protect Meghan from further bashing in the press — especially as she’s going into labor any day now — the number of accusations being thrown at William without a shred of evidence are simply mind-boggling. Let’s agree that British tabloids need to ratchet down their Meghan coverage by a mile, but equally asses our own responsibility to fact-check when presented with the opportunity to criticize. Just because William hasn’t started suing every paper that speaks ill of Meghan (which, for the record, would be quite odd and likely unwelcome), we can’t assume that he’s responsible for those papers’ content.

Originally posted on SheKnows.