For anyone who is still wondering why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to step down as members of the royal family, this clip from MSNBC should be quite illuminating.
During a segment on MSNBC Live, Victoria Mather, a reporter for the British platform Air Mail, commented that Markle (a successful actress and the first Black member of the royal family) was "five clicks up from trailer trash."
You can watch the segment here.
On the show, Mather commented:
"I think what has really, really upset the British public is that Meghan Markle, who many people consider as only, you know, five clicks up from trailer trash, has actually tried to disrespect the queen. And the queen is the most respected person, most respected woman, in the world."
Mather continues to identify herself online as a Travel Editor at Vanity Fair despite the fact that she no longer works at that company.
Vanity Fair's parent company issued a statement shortly after the interview revealing Mather hadn't worked there since 2018.
The reporter also did not correct the MSNBC anchor during her introduction as a "royals watcher" for Vanity Fair.
The interview has received widespread condemnation online, and the MSNBC anchor was quick to end the interview after the comment was made.
Mather has written negatively about Markle during her time at Air Mail as well, referencing her as "trailer trash" and the "Duchess of Excess."
At one point, she wrote:
"As for the reported feud between the duchesses, that was a story waiting to happen. Catherine comes from a stable, close-knit family. Meghan comes from a sadly dysfunctional family, leading to her being unpleasantly trolled as trailer trash."
Twitter was quick to insist that Mather's time on the air come to an end.
Aiming such an insult at ANY person, let alone a member of the royal family, is an incredibly degrading thing to do, and any reporter who trades in such rhetoric shouldn't be welcome in the mainstream media.
@joehas/X