Janet Street Porter brands Finding Freedom a ‘PR disaster’ for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and insists they should have distanced themselves from the bombshell biography
- Janet Street Porter criticised bombshell biography on Loose Women in London
- Said she felt book was ‘PR disaster’ for Santa Barbara-bound Harry and Meghan
- Added should have distanced themselves from the gossip instead of addressing
Janet Street Porter has branded Finding Freedom a ‘PR disaster’ for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Appearing on Loose Women today, the presenter discussed the bombshell biography, released by British journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand yesterday, with fellow panelists Brenda Edwards and Stacey Solomon.
Claiming that Prince Harry, 35, and 38-year-old Meghan Markle’s departure from royal life had backfired for the couple, the commentator claimed that the couple ‘should have distanced themselves from it’.
As the book was released, Scobie gave interviews denying ever interviewing the couple for the book and insisted that it was their ‘many’ friends who provided insights.
However an author’s note in Finding Freedom appears to acknowledge that the writers worked with the couple, reading: ‘We have spoken with close friends of Harry and Meghan, royal aides and palace staff (past and present), the charities and organisations they have built long-lasting relationships with and, when appropriate, the couple themselves’.
Janet Street Porter said on Loose Women that the bombshell biography of the leading to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from royal life was a ‘PR disaster’
‘I felt the tone of the book was very gushing,’ she said.
‘Harry and Meghan, if they did cooperate with the book, I think it’s a bit of a PR disaster for them,’ she added.
‘I don’t see it as really enhancing their status as a couple to be taken seriously if they want a new life on the world stage making important announcements’.
Janet, who admitted she had only read the serialisation of the book in the press and had no interest in reading the whole work, said she felt some of the book’s details were ‘amazingly benign.’
Omid Scobie, who wrote Finding Freedom with Carolyn Durand, said he had spoken to Harry and Meghan when ‘appropriate’
‘Like ‘Archie was born with his eyes opened’,’ she said with a shrug.
Meanwhile, Charlene White argued that Harry and Meghan have not said that they had been involved with the book, and it fact, confirmed recently that they had not been consulted.
A spokesman for the Sussexes, who now live in California, told the BBC they had not been interviewed for the book.
A statement said: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom.
‘This book is based on the authors’ own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting.’
The panel was discussing the release of Finding Freedom and whether it would work to Harry and Meghan’s advantage or not
And Brenda Edwards joined Charlene in defending the much-discussed couple, arguing they should be ‘left alone’ and that she had loved the book.
‘You’re going to get three different types of people with this book: you’re gonna get people like me, who support it, you’re gonna get the haters, which you always get, and then you’re gonna get the curious who don’t know ,cant make their mind up either way.’
Speaking from home via a video link, Stacey Solomon agreed and said she did not think the striking revelations found in Finding Freedom were ‘from the horse’s mouth.
‘I always feel with these kinds of books, you either prove it or you don’t,’ she said.
‘Unless they come out and say ‘we absolutely stand by this book, this is word for word how we feel’, to me it’s just another fantasy novel about the royal family,’ she added.