Nicholas Witchell, a seasoned journalist with a 25-year broadcasting career, has recently voiced his criticisms of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as he prepares to retire. Throughout his career, he honed his skills reporting on the royal family in front of the camera. However, a significant incident occurred during a live broadcast outside Buckingham Palace in May 2019 when he announced the arrival of baby Archie. This unexpected hiccup led to online speculation about Archie’s health, and Witchell was unfavorably labeled as “awful” by then-Prince Charles in an article for the Sunday Times.
As he approaches retirement, Witchell took the opportunity to explain his perspective on what happened during the broadcast. His critique of Harry and Meghan was sharp, describing it as the single worst moment in his 48-year career in front of a live TV audience. He hinted that perhaps subconsciously, he just wasn’t very interested in their story at the time. Reflecting on the incident, he admitted, “I was tired. You need to psych yourself up to stand there and do that, and I hadn’t. I was complacent. You can’t afford to be complacent about live television because, as I demonstrated in front of however many million people, it can turn around and bite you.”
Witchell mentioned that he received support from the public after the incident, with actors who had experienced similar mishaps on stage writing to him to share their own experiences. However, he confessed that he has never been able to bring himself to watch the moment back because it had considerably shaken his confidence.
He also delved into the birth of Archie, emphasizing that it deviated from royal protocols and was a chaotic affair. There were rumors circulating, both then and since, that Kensington Palace’s birth announcement on the website indicated Archie was born by a surrogate. This announcement remained on the website for several hours before being taken down, with claims of it being a hack. Witchell pointed out that there had never been a hack like that before or since, raising questions about whether commentators and journalists had some insider knowledge they couldn’t openly discuss.
Witchell did not mince words when discussing Prince Harry’s recent attacks on the British media, describing them as paranoid and misguided. He suggested that Harry and Meghan should be more resilient and utilize the media instead of criticizing it. He believed that they could have achieved a great deal as part of the royal family had they been more patient and less inclined to view well-meaning individuals as adversaries.
Witchell dismissed rumors that Buckingham Palace was against Harry and Meghan from the beginning, asserting that the team had made sincere efforts to accommodate them and be sympathetic to their needs. He acknowledged that the palace could have made more effort but attributed the difficulties to a clash of cultures, suggesting that Harry was not well-suited to the role. Witchell criticized Harry and Meghan’s fixation on media portrayal, labeling it as unhealthy and emphasizing that they were missing out on opportunities by being excessively preoccupied with it.
