Elton John to Media: Leave Harry, Meghan Alone

He accuses press of 'relentless' attacks on royal couple after kerfuffle over private jet
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 20, 2019 6:22 AM CDT
Elton to Press: Cease 'Relentless' Attacks on Harry, Meghan
Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose for photographers upon arrival at the 'Lion King' European premiere in central London, Sunday, July 14, 2019.   (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Elton John provided a private jet for Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their baby son Archie to stay at his home in France last week—and he would like the British media to shut up about it. The singer is urging the British press to cease its attacks on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over their use of private jets instead of commercial flights, reports Reuters. They reportedly took four private jet flights in 11 days, leading to accusations of hypocrisy because of their outspoken support of environmental causes. "I'm calling on the press to cease these relentless and untrue assassinations on their character that are spuriously crafted on an almost daily basis," Sir Elton said in an Instagram post on Monday, accusing the media of publishing a "distorted and malicious account" of their visit.

"Prince Harry's mother, Diana Princess of Wales was one of my dearest friends. I feel a profound sense of obligation to protect Harry and his family from the unnecessary press intrusion that contributed to Diana's untimely death," the singer said. "David and I wanted the young family to have a private holiday inside the safety and tranquility of our home," he said. "To maintain a high level of much-needed protection, we provided them with a private jet flight." He said that to support the prince's "commitment to the environment," he had paid for the flight to be carbon offset, the BBC reports. Lawmaker David Lammy, a Labour MP, praised Sir Elton's stance, tweeting that "the hounding of Harry and Meghan is becoming a witch-hunt replete with nasty racial and xenophobic overtones." (Harry says he won't have more than two children.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X