'Sussex Squad' of Harry and Meghan fans are abhorrent trollers, says royal expert
During a panel discussion about the Royal Family, hosted by Yahoo News UK's royal executive editor Omid Scobie, journalist Robert Jobson took aim at pro-Sussex trolls as he discussed the institution's treatment of Meghan and Harry.
"You have to be very careful because you get trolled, like I have done before, by moronic people," he said. "People that don't even listen or don't even read properly - the Sussex squad for example, who I find abhorrent."
Joining Omid were author and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party, Catherine Mayer; King Charles’ biographer and royal editor at The Evening Standard Robert Jobson; and journalist and broadcaster Afua Hagan.
Watch the full clip above.
Video transcript
OMID SCOBIE: Robert, we spoke earlier about how Harry and Meghan are pretty much in the same age category as William and Kate, but clearly, the Sussexes did something to connect with that younger generation in a way that the Waleses aren't. Do you think that--
ROBERT JOBSON: Well, I think there's been overstated, personally.
OMID SCOBIE: I think I speak personally, not just from polls, but also from--
ROBERT JOBSON: [INAUDIBLE]
OMID SCOBIE: --the feedback I have from--
ROBERT JOBSON: [INAUDIBLE]
OMID SCOBIE: Exactly, and I'm in the same age category.
ROBERT JOBSON: No, you're not the same age. You're not young at all, Omid.
OMID SCOBIE: No, not at all.
ROBERT JOBSON: You may look good, but you're not.
[LAUGHTER]
But the fact is--
OMID SCOBIE: But that's the point.
ROBERT JOBSON: I think that's the feeling.
OMID SCOBIE: I think there's different levels of youth within an age.
ROBERT JOBSON: Well, maybe.
OMID SCOBIE: And Harry and Meghan really were able to connect with a demographic that--
ROBERT JOBSON: Well, Harry can be quite childish.
OMID SCOBIE: --we see less.
ROBERT JOBSON: But you know, I don't agree with a lot of what was just said there. I think that-- I personally think that Harry and Meghan had their own agenda. I don't think that she wasn't welcomed. I think she was. I think that there were certain members of the Royal Family that didn't have open arms, but others did.
The King, I think, did his very best to welcome her, and I think he did. And I dispute what people say about that. But that said, it didn't work, and that was a mistake. And that is big error by the Royal Family in that respect because whatever they needed to do, they needed-- like they didn't do with Diana, they needed to make her feel really part of it. And I think he did try, but there were certain members of the Royal Family extended that didn't do enough.
Now, I was on a trip to-- I think you were, too-- where we went to Australia. And then, she was trying very hard on that trip. Did a really good job.
OMID SCOBIE: Yeah, it was probably the peak moment [INAUDIBLE].
ROBERT JOBSON: But she was definitely nervous. And she was feeling pressure. And I don't-- and I could see it.
Because I'd covered Princess Diana before, and I remember watching her and thinking, this is all going to blow up, because she was under so much pressure. And she was doing her best, her damnedest, to be perfect.
OMID SCOBIE: That's quite a big conclusion to come to. I mean, I think we think of the circumstances, she was pregnant, and it was her first major royal tour.
ROBERT JOBSON: Oh, no, I'm not criticizing her in any way.
OMID SCOBIE: So I think, no, I understand that--
ROBERT JOBSON: Not at all, I was saying I thought--
OMID SCOBIE: --but I think I would say almost any person, I think, would be nervous stepping into such--
ROBERT JOBSON: No, no, but nervousness isn't a criticism.
OMID SCOBIE: --overwhelming arena.
ROBERT JOBSON: But you have to be very careful because you get trolled, like I've done before, by moronic people. But the fact is, people that just don't even listen or don't even read properly. But the fact is, what I'm trying to say to you is that she was under a lot of pressure on that trip, and maybe-- just maybe-- they shouldn't have put her under that pressure. Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn't have even been traveling.
[WHOOSH]
