I was once informed that hell would freeze over before I ever wrote anything kind or sympathetic when it came to Meghan Markle. In which case, that crackling sound you hear is ice forming over Hades, because recent events have convinced me that, for once, the Duchess of Sussex merits not the usual dismissal mixed with contempt that she has been treated with by many figures in the British media, but instead understanding and, indeed, sympathy as to why she has done many of the things that she is responsible for over the past eight years. Yes, even With Love, Meghan.

When the news that Markle’s father, Thomas, was said to have a considerable stash of child pornography broke, my initial reaction was incomprehension. Firstly, his son Thomas Jr. had given an interview to the Sun. And while Meghan herself issued a statement saying how appalled she was by the ‘troubling and disturbing allegations’ that had been made, her half-sister Samantha came out with an equally forthright denial of these allegations. It seemed – like so many things involving the Duchess – to be a morass of spin, accusations and mud-flinging, and I was unsure whether there was anything to........

© The Spectator