James Blunt says ‘vitriol’ against Meghan Markle and Prince Harry is ‘leaning on bullying’

‘Newspaper coverage seems to be vitriolic quite a lot of the time’

James Blunt has condemned the “vitriolic” press coverage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, saying it is “leaning on bullying”.

On Wednesday morning, the singer appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, where he spoke about his relationship with the royal couple.

Blunt, who attended Meghan and Prince Harry‘s wedding in May 2018, expressed his opposition to the way the pair are often portrayed in the media.

“I do know them, I might have spoken briefly about it,” the musician said.

“What I think I can see is that they seem to be on the cover of the newspapers a lot and it seems to be vitriolic quite a lot of the time.”

Blunt added that he met Prince Harry while serving in the army.

“He’s a very nice man, a really phenomenal soldier, who does a lot of work for other people, for charities, for veterans, for Sentebale charity, for children in Africa, and I think under great scrutiny they seem to try a lot for other people,” he said.

“So the vitriol seems a bit like leaning on bullying to me.”

On Sunday, a documentary that followed the duke and duchess on their recent royal tour of southern Africa aired on ITV.

During the hour-long programme, Meghan admitted she was warned by British friends not to marry Prince Harry because the tabloids in Britain would “destroy” her life.

“When I first met my now-husband my friends were really happy because I was so happy, but my British friends said to me: ‘I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life’,” the royal said.

“I’m not in tabloids. I didn’t get it, so it’s been complicated,” the 38-year-old added.

In the documentary, Prince Harry also expressed his frustration over the prevalence of “untrue” stories about him and his wife in the media.

“Part of this job, and part of any job, like everybody, is putting on a brave face and turning a cheek to a lot of the stuff, but again, for me and again for my wife, of course there is a lot of stuff that hurts, especially when the majority of it is untrue,” the 35-year-old said.

During his appearance on Good Morning Britain, Blunt also opened up about his father’s ill health.

The singer explained that his father needs a new kidney, revealing that he is not a match.

“I’ve come on here to ask you what blood group you are. If you are an O-positive, I’ll take it off you,” he said.