Just days before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in Australia, the Daily Mail published a big exclusive about their itinerary, with details about their events and planned movements in Melbourne and Sydney. We knew, in real time, that the Mail had broken the embargo implemented by the Sussexes’ communications team. Meaning, the Sussexes’ comms team sent out what was probably a one-sheet for press outlets saying “on Wednesday, they’ll be doing this and this,” etc, information which is given out so media outlets could make travel arrangements if they wanted to cover Harry & Meghan’s activities, because they did not have a “traveling press corps” attached to their group. Obviously, the Mail broke the embargo on purpose, because they had (at that point) spent a full month trying to sabotage the Sussexes’ Oz tour. Well, behind-the-scenes, it was even worse:
The Daily Mail’s “aggressive” approach to reporting on Prince Harry and Meghan’s Australian visit has “irreparably damaged” the Sussexes’ ability to brief press ahead of trips, Guardian Australia has been told.
The Daily Mail’s Australian website broke an embargo by publishing details of the royal couple’s movements five days before they landed in Melbourne, despite that information being strictly non-publishable until they arrived. The Mail reported “under-wraps details” about the location of the stops in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra as well as the background notes and a Q&A, against the instructions given to media by the royal pair’s team. The Guardian has been told the Sussexes’ media office complained, resulting in the Daily Mail report being taken down.
Sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also alleged the Daily Mail followed the advance security team from the airport and reported on their movements, with fears that the safety of Harry and Meghan was compromised. The Daily Mail has been approached for comment.
The breach will have a major impact on the way the couple deal with all media in the future as it showed the tradition of embargoed information is not respected by some media, sources said.
The leak meant that Harry and Meghan’s itinerary had to be changed at the 11th hour and that the police involvement in their security had to be increased – an unpopular aspect of the pair’s trip to Australia which was criticised as a waste of taxpayer money. Victoria police had told the media it would deploy resources as necessary to ensure community safety. NSW police confirmed they had provided “some additional security measures”.
Sources said there was an “aggressive escalation” in the Mail’s reporting which led to aspects of the tour being changed, including the ability to brief journalists ahead of time as the couple moved from Melbourne to Sydney, and Harry travelled to Canberra.
Meghan’s PR team criticised the Mail, Sky News Australia and the UK’s Daily Mirror last week. “Media from the Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, and Sky News Australia unfortunately reported on sensitive embargoed information, complicating and compromising security arrangements,” a spokesperson from Meghan’s PR team said last week. “We are therefore no longer sharing itineraries beyond the initial ops note with media for the remainder of their trip.”
The statement led to an angry response from Sky News which said it did not break the embargo and was merely reporting on information already in the public domain.
Recent stories on the Australian Daily Mail website are overwhelmingly negative about Meghan, saying she glared at an adviser who touched her husband, she talked about her “very hard life” after appearing at a luxury wellness retreat, and that the event she headlined had failed to sell out. They criticised her outfits as “stiff, impractical and worst of all, horribly ageing”.
Some events were not forecast on the embargoed briefing notes, including a surprise visit to Bondi Beach to meet survivors of the Bondi beach terror attack on their final day. Harry and Meghan met emergency workers who responded to the attack, as well as representatives of the Sydney Jewish Museum, which is opening an exhibition on the massacre.
“Sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also alleged the Daily Mail followed the advance security team from the airport and reported on their movements…” Absolutely insane. The Mail has always led the charge to sabotage Harry and Meghan, it’s been that way for years now. I still remember when the Mail published the ROUTE Meghan and Harry would take to Manchester in 2022, where Meghan was giving a speech. It’s one of the Mail’s favorite things to do – publish advanced information about Meghan and Harry’s whereabouts, routes and plans. It’s all being done specifically to put the Sussexes in danger. As for the Aussie police needing to come in and do some public-safety work attached to the Sussexes’ tour… it probably would have happened no matter what, because of the huge, enthusiastic crowds who came out to see H&M. But the Mail also worked that angle – put the Sussexes in danger so that it’s necessary to have police presence at certain events, then bash H&M for “wasting taxpayer money.” Hint: it’s not a waste of taxpayer money if there are legitimate public safety concerns driven by the international smear campaign orchestrated by the monarchy and British press.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
