Louise O'Neill: 'It is depressing to see the media want to silence Meghan Markle'

It’s the story everyone is talking about; countless lurid headlines and breathless opinion pieces, increasingly absurd conspiracy theories and wild speculation lighting up Whatsapp groups and Twitter threads. Yes, I’m talking about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and their decision to step down as senior members of the Royal family.

What else? As someone who, on principle, disapproves of everything the monarchy stands for — it perpetuates an unjust class system, celebrating a rarefied few because of birthright rather than merit — I still haven’t been able to resist this story. Like Love Island, it seems like superficial nonsense on the surface but dig a little deeper, and you quickly find a rather damning indictment of how gender, race, and class intersect in our culture.