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69.

I rang Granny to tell her beforehand. Pa too. And I sent Willy a text.

I also told the Bee, giving him advance notice of the lawsuit¹, letting him know we had a

statement ready to go, asking him to please redirect to our office all the press inquiries² it would

inevitably³ trigger. He wished us luck! It was amusing, therefore, when I heard that he and the

Wasp⁴ were claiming to have had no advance warning.

In announcing the lawsuit I laid out my case to the world:

My wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid⁵ press that wages campaigns

against individuals with no thought to the consequences—a ruthless campaign that has escalated⁶

over the past year, throughout her pregnancy⁷ and while raising our newborn son…I cannot begin

to describe how painful it has been…Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right

one. Because my deepest fear is history repeating itself…I lost my mother and now I watch my

wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.

The lawsuit wasn’t covered as widely as, say, Meg’s daring to shut her own car door. In fact, it

was barely covered at all. Nonetheless, friends took note. Many texted: Why now?

Simple. In a few days the privacy laws in Britain were going to change in the tabloids’ favor.

We wanted our case to be heard before a crooked⁸ bat was introduced into the game.

Friends also asked: Why sue at all when you’re riding so high in the press? The South Africa

tour was a triumph, coverage⁹ was wildly positive.

That’s the whole point, I explained. This isn’t about wanting or needing good press. It’s about

not letting people get away with abuse. And lies. Especially the kind of lies that can destroy

innocents.

Maybe I sounded a bit self-righteous. Maybe I sounded as if I was on my high horse. But

shortly after announcing our lawsuit I felt energized¹⁰ by a ghastly story in the Express.

How Meghan Markle’s flowers may have put Princess Charlotte’s life at risk.

This latest “scandal” concerned the flower crowns worn by our bridesmaids, more than a year

earlier. Included in the crowns were a few lilies of the valley, which can be poisonous to children.

Provided the children eat the lilies.

Even then, the reaction would be discomfort¹¹, concerning to parents, but only in the rarest cases

would such a thing be fatal.

Never mind that an official florist¹² put together these crowns. Never mind that it wasn’t Meg

who made this “dangerous decision.” Never mind that previous royal brides, including Kate and

my mother, had also used lilies of the valley.

Never mind all that. The story of Meghan the Murderess was just too good.

An accompanying photo showed my poor little niece wearing her crown, face contorted in a

paroxysm of agony, or a sneeze. Alongside this photo was a shot of Meg looking sublimely¹³

unconcerned about the imminent¹⁴ death of this angelic child.

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

4 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

5 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

6 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

7 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

8 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

11 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

12 florist   

n.花商；种花者

参考例句：

• The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
• Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？

13 sublimely   

高尚地，卓越地

参考例句：

• In devotion woman is sublimely superior to man. 怜悯是女子胜过男子的德性之一。
• She was sublimely unaware of how foolish she looked. 她根本不知道她的样子多愚蠢。

14 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。