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James Hanson reacts as Meghan and Harry are set to return to the UK.
The pair are understood to be returning for an 'extended period' of time, according to the Daily Telegraph.
James reflects on the couple's history in the headlines and argues the British public and royal family should 'wipe the slate clean' with the Sussexes.
Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp
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0:00
The subjects of this week's Hanson Ranson, you will not be surprised to hear, are a certain Harry and Meghan
0:09
Now, I have a lot to say, you may not be surprised, about Harry and Meghan
0:14
But I will start by saying this. I think we should wipe the slate clean
0:19
I think we should give them a bit of a break and we should give them a chance
0:24
this is an opportunity for a new beginning for Harry, for Meghan, for the royal family
0:31
for the British media, for Britain more broadly, for the public. I think we all need to just say
0:37
do you know what? Let bygones be bygones. Let's try and make this work. Because Harry and Meghan
0:45
clearly haven't been having the greatest of times in California. Otherwise, why would they be coming
0:50
back to the UK. Clearly it's been a difficult few years for the king and we wish him well with his
0:56
cancer treatment but you would like to think however long he's got left that he can spend
1:01
that time rebuilding his relationship with his youngest son and his daughter-in-law and hopefully
1:07
see more of his grandchildren so it would be good for the king and the queen. You would like to think
1:13
there can be some kind of reconciliation between Harry and his brother William. Now that may be the
1:18
harder thing. And then more broadly, I think the British people would like to see Harry and Meghan
1:23
back in the UK, hopefully trying to rebuild their place in public life. Because prior to what
1:29
happened a few years back, prior to them leaving, prior to the Oprah interview, Harry and Meghan
1:36
were viewed in a very positive light, not just by ordinary Brits, but also by the press. And this is
1:43
where I need to get something off my chest. Because I'm sorry, Harry and Meghan were not hounded out of Britain by an unfair media
1:53
That is just baloney. Harry and Meghan actually had a very positive press for many, many years
2:02
This has been airbrushed from history now. But when Meghan Markle first came on the scene, she was not smeared
2:10
She was not targeted. She was not attacked in the press. She had very positive column inches Most people most ordinary Brits and most journalists thought you know what this is a really really good thing for the royal family The fact that she comes from a different background the fact that she had a successful independent career of her
2:27
own as an actress, the fact that she was mixed race and would bring diversity in every sense of
2:32
the word to the royal family, the fact that she was American even, this was seen as quite a positive
2:37
thing. And for those who say that she is the victim of unfair coverage compared to, for example
2:43
called the Princess of Wales, I would say, shall we just look at how Kate Middleton, as she then was
2:49
was covered in the press when she first came on the scene in the mid-naughties
2:53
She had a terrible press, far worse than the media coverage that Meghan Markle ever had to endure
3:00
Remember when they called her weighty Katie because supposedly she was waiting too long to be proposed to
3:05
by Prince William? I mean, unbelievable smears from the press. she was stalked basically every time she left the house her family background was sneered at
3:19
because supposedly she was too middle class and not posh enough to be a member of the royal family
3:24
because her mother was an heir steward i mean that feeds into the discussion we're having this hour about class but certainly i would say that kate middleton was the victim of a very prejudiced
3:34
press campaign when she first emerged now i know there are those who say that there was a racial
3:41
element to the way that Meghan Markle ended up being treated by the right wing press. And I'm
3:45
sure that she has been the victim of racism. I do not doubt that for one moment. But I think to say
3:51
that the press coverage she received when she first emerged was somehow unfair, I think is
3:57
rewriting history. She received very positive column inches and press coverage. And when she
4:04
got engaged to harry that continued when she got married to harry that continued i mean the tv
4:11
audiences that tuned in for that royal wedding i think it was 2018 were huge and people cheered
4:16
them on because people actually felt a connection to harry and megan on a deeper level than they did
4:20
to for example william and kate because william and kate you know very kind of upright and proper
4:25
but i don't think people see them as the kind of people they could go down the pub with in the same
4:28
way they would harry and megan people always liked harry people liked megan because they thought well If she good enough for Harry then she good enough for us So this idea that they were hounded out of Britain is nonsense Did they start receiving at one point slightly more negative press
4:45
Yes, they did. But why was that? It was shortly after the royal wedding when stories started to emerge
4:52
about the high turnover of staff working for Meghan in particular, suggestions that she might be a little bit demanding
5:01
that she might not be the easiest person to work for. And I'm sorry, those are legitimate stories to cover
5:09
Because if you have people working at the taxpayer's expense for a member of the royal family
5:15
and they are allegedly not treating them that well or they're churning through staff at a rate of not
5:21
it is perfectly legitimate for the press to cover that. And I wonder what really happened, if what really happened
5:27
is that Meghan Markle sensed shortly after the royal wedding that it was all downhill from there
5:35
that she would never get more glowing coverage or more eyeballs on her than she did during the royal wedding
5:42
because the sad thing is about being a spare, which is, of course, what Harry is
5:46
That was the title of his book a few years ago. You have an heir and a spare
5:50
and it is an unfortunate situation to be the spare. Princess Margaret struggled with it
5:55
princess anne edward andrew we know the difficulties of being not the the heir but one of the spares
6:05
and i i have some sympathy with um with harry being in that situation but i think megan clearly
6:09
says well hang on i am married to the spare throughout his life he's going to drop down
6:15
the line of succession he's going to become less and less relevant and therefore so will i
6:19
and so I wonder if what really happened with Meghan is that she decided that she needed to do something
6:25
to put herself back into the headlines and whether she thought moving to California
6:30
taking Harry over to the States would actually get them back into the news
6:35
and boy it did. That Oprah interview, the Netflix documentaries, the Spotify deal, the book, all of that
6:42
it's got them back in the headlines and now they want to come back
6:46
And this is where the hypocrisy really irritates me because if you are saying that they have been hounded out of Britain by an unfair tabloid press then why on earth would you return to the country in which that press operates Why would you take Archie and Lilibet quite a crucial age back to
7:06
the country whose press you accuse of hounding you out of Britain? I mean, that would be negligence
7:13
That would be bad parenting if it were true. But it isn't true. Yes, they had some negative
7:20
publicity. I would say probably fair negative publicity because it is right that the media
7:26
hold the royal family to account, but seemingly they think they should be above it. But let
7:34
bygones be bygones. Having said all of that, I think we need to give them another chance
7:40
I think we need to say, Harry and Meghan, welcome back to Britain. If you want to maybe one day work
7:47
your way towards being working royals again. I think we should be open to that. Now, I agree
7:51
with Buckingham Palace. You can't be half in, half out. You either are a working royal or you are not
7:57
But I think we need to give this a go. So I think we need to be as kind as we can to Harry and Meghan
8:06
Doesn't mean they have completely free reign. And if they start spouting off again, then we're
8:10
perfectly entitled to criticise them. But I think Prince William needs to find a way of burying the
8:18
hatchet with his brother. I think it would be a beautiful thing if Harry and Meghan can rebuild
8:24
ties with the king and queen so that they can actually see their grandchildren properly
8:29
And I think it would be a good thing for a monarchy as an institution that's had a rough
8:33
few years, that needs more working royals who people actually like and people have always
8:39
kind of liked Harry. And I think if she plays her cards right
8:43
people can learn to love Meghan as well. I think this might be the moment to draw a line
8:47
under all that hypocrisy that I have outlined and actually say, do you know what
8:51
Harry and Meghan, all is forgiven. Welcome back. We'll give you a go
8:56
There we go. That is this week's Hanson Rants On. Another rant next Saturday morning
9:01
half past four here on LBC. And thank you for putting up with my views
9:06
on Harry and Meghan. I know there's been a lot of them in the last few days, and I know there are a lot of people who are just fed up of hearing about them full stop
9:13
But look, we're going to hear a lot more about them in the months and years ahead
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