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61.

I woke to a text from Jason.

Bad news.

What is it now?

The Mail on Sunday had printed the private letter Meg had written to her father. The letter that

Granny and Pa urged her to write.

February 2019.

I was in bed, Meg was lying next to me, still asleep.

I waited a bit, then broke the news to her softly.

Your father’s given your letter to the Mail.

No.

Meg, I don’t know what to say, he’s given them your letter.

That moment, for me, was decisive. About Mr. Markle, but also about the press. There had

been so many moments, but that for me was The One. I didn’t want to hear any more talk of

protocols¹, tradition, strategy. Enough, I thought.

Enough.

The paper knew it was illegal to publish that letter, they knew full well, and did it anyway.

Why? Because they also knew Meg was defenseless. They knew she didn’t have the staunch

support of my family, and how else could they have known this, except from people close to the

family? Or inside the family? The papers knew that the only recourse Meg had was to sue, and she

couldn’t do that because there was only one lawyer working with the family, and that lawyer was

under the control of the Palace, and the Palace would never authorize² him to act on Meg’s behalf.

There was nothing in that letter to be ashamed about. A daughter pleading with her father to

behave decently? Meg stood by every word. She’d always known it might be intercepted³, that one

of her father’s neighbors, or one of the paps staking out his house, might steal his post. Anything

was possible. But she never stopped to think her father would actually offer it, or that a paper

would actually take it—and print it.

And edit it. Indeed, that might have been the most galling⁴ thing, the way the editors cut and

pasted Meg’s words to make them sound less loving.

Seeing something so deeply personal smeared⁵ across the front pages, gobbled up by Britons

over their morning toast and marmalade, was invasive enough. But the pain was compounded

tenfold by the simultaneous interviews with alleged⁶ handwriting experts, who analyzed⁷ Meg’s

letter and inferred from the way she crossed her Ts or curved her Rs that she was a terrible person.

Rightward slant⁸? Over-emotional.

Highly stylized? Consummate⁹ performer.

Uneven¹⁰ baseline? No impulse control.

The look on Meg’s face as I told her about these libels rolling out…I knew my way around

grief, and there was no mistaking it—this was pure grief. She was mourning the loss of her father,

and she was also mourning the loss of her own innocence¹¹. She reminded me in a whisper, as if

someone might be listening, that she’d taken a handwriting class in high school, and as a result

she’d always had excellent penmanship. People complimented her. She’d even used this skill at

university to earn spare money. Nights, weekends, she’d inscribed¹² wedding and birthday-party

invitations, to pay the rent. Now people were trying to say that this was some kind of window into

her soul? And the window was dirty?

Tormenting¹³ Meghan Markle has become a national sport that shames us, said a headline in

The Guardian¹⁴.

So true. But no one was shamed, that was the problem. No one was feeling the slightest pang¹⁵

of conscience. Would they finally feel some if they caused a divorce? Or would it take another

death?

What had become of all the shame they’d felt in the late 1990s?

Meg wanted to sue. Me too. Rather, we both felt we had no choice. If we didn’t sue over this,

we said, what kind of signal would that be sending? To the press? To the world? So we conferred

again with the Palace lawyer.

We were given a runaround.

I reached out to Pa and Willy. They’d both sued the press in the past over invasions and lies.

Pa sued over so-called Black Spider Letters, his memos¹⁶ to government officials. Willy sued over

topless photos of Kate.

But both vehemently¹⁷ opposed the idea of Meg and me taking any legal action.

Why? I asked.

They hummed and hahed. The only answer I could get out of them was that it simply wasn’t

advisable. The done thing, etc.

I told Meg: You’d think we were suing a dear friend of theirs.

1 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

2 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

3 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

4 galling   

adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的

参考例句：

• It was galling to have to apologize to a man she hated. 令人恼火的是得向她憎恶的男人道歉。
• The insolence in the fellow's eye was galling. 这家伙的傲慢目光令人恼怒。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 smeared   

弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上

参考例句：

• The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
• A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 slant   

v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向

参考例句：

• The lines are drawn on a slant.这些线条被画成斜线。
• The editorial had an antiunion slant.这篇社论有一种反工会的倾向。

9 consummate   

adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle

参考例句：

• The restored jade burial suit fully reveals the consummate skill of the labouring people of ancient China.复原后的金缕玉衣充分显示出中国古代劳动人民的精湛工艺。
• The actor's acting is consummate and he is loved by the audience.这位演员技艺精湛，深受观众喜爱。

10 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

11 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

12 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 tormenting   

使痛苦的，使苦恼的

参考例句：

• He took too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban. 他喜欢一味捉弄一个名叫凯列班的丑妖怪。
• The children were scolded for tormenting animals. 孩子们因折磨动物而受到责骂。

14 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

15 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

16 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

17 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。