One is held by Piers Morgan, who has just left ITV's Good Morning Britain breakfast programme in a huff. It is doubtless shared by millions of less voluble Britons.

According to Mr Morgan, Meghan's contribution to the Oprah Winfrey interview was a ‘diatribe of bilge'.

He declared with characteristically colourful hyperbole that he ‘didn't believe a word she says' and ‘wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report'.

The opposing view — dominant on Twitter, favoured by the BBC, and supposedly held by most young people — is that Meghan is a victim of racism, and that all her allegations about the Royal Family must be unconditionally accepted.

Some who sign up to this set of beliefs go further.

They maintain that white people either have no right to doubt the Duchess's testimony or, even more tendentiously, that anyone who does so must be racist.

Here are two examples.

In The Sun newspaper, a black journalist, Nana Acheampong, wrote: ‘If Meghan is telling you that she suffered racism in the Palace, then she did. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not black.'

Meanwhile, on the Thought For Today slot on Radio Four's Today programme a young Anglican ordinand, Jayne Manfredi, also nailed her colours to Meghan's mast.

She spoke of the ‘deeper malaise' evinced by the ‘backlash' against Meghan, who ‘had the audacity to tell her own truth'.

So there we have it.

Many of those who rally to Meghan's cause do so because she is a youngish woman of mixed race, and therefore anything she says must be believed without qualification.

And those who question any part of her account (which, it must be said, was delivered with extraordinary aplomb) are written off as old, reactionary, mean-spirited and bigoted.

How did it come to this?

There have always been hotly contested differences of opinion - between Left and Right, Christians and atheists, pro-abortionists and anti-abortionists, and so on.

But people used often to arrive at these opposing views through the exercise of reason.

No longer.

Many uncritically believe Meghan's very serious allegations against the Royal Family because of her background.

In their view, it's not what she says that makes her right. It's what she is.

I accept, of course, that we all see the world through the prism of our ethnicity, class and age.

But if we do no more than that — if we refuse to consider the facts as dispassionately as we are able to — we will end up with a fractious and divided society.

Despite what Jayne Manfredi says, truth is not something personal to us.

It's not something we can own as individuals.

It's an absolute, always hard to attain and sometimes even to recognise, but nonetheless the lodestar of any civilised community.

Despite what Jayne Manfredi says, truth is not something personal to us.

It's not something we can own as individuals.

It's an absolute, always hard to attain and sometimes even to recognise, but nonetheless the lodestar of any civilised community.

Let's examine what the Duchess said.

I think Piers Morgan was wrong to dismiss her entire interview as ‘bilge', not least because it suggests that her revelations about her suicidal thoughts can be swept aside.

He is saying she is either a fantasist or a liar — or both.

That's rash. Continue reading

Markle went to the Los Angeles school from seventh to 12th grade. Read more

Markle, who is Prince Harry's fiancee, says on the first day she "felt really scared.

"I was young, and it was rough and raw down there, and though I was with a great volunteer group, I just felt overwhelmed."

When Markle considered volunteering there again, she sought the advice of her theology teacher, Maria Pollia.

She needed to know how to volunteer without being afraid.

Pollia said she told her "to put the needs of others beyond your own fears".

Markel says she remembered this advice long after her junior year.

She mentions this advice in a book she was interviewed for: "The Game Changers: Success Secrets From 40 Women at the Top: How to Become a Fearless, Fabulous Girl Boss".

Pollia says she feels such recognition is just as much a credit to the school (Immaculate Heart High School) as to her own views about serving others.

Source

• Crux
• Brit + Co
• Image: Insider

The Archbishop must grant a licence for marriages not held in parish churches.

Since 2002, following a ruling by the General Synod, divorced people have been allowed to marry in the Church of England "in exceptional circumstances".

Couples must ask the minister who is to conduct the service whether they are prepared to let the marriage go ahead, and clergy may refuse on grounds of conscience to officiate.

The Archbishop of Canterbury usually presides over Royal weddings, although whether he will officiate has not been confirmed.

However, Welby says he is "absolutely delighted" about the forthcoming nuptials.

"Marriage is a special and joyous commitment, one that Jesus celebrated with friends at the wedding in Cana (where Jesus turned water into wine).

"I am so happy that Prince Harry and Ms Markle have chosen to make their vows before God.

"I wish them many years of love, happiness and fulfilment and ask that God blesses them throughout their married life".

Although she is not a Catholic and is said to identify as a Protestant, Markle was educated at a Catholic school.

According to several news sources, she will be both baptised and confirmed before she marries Prince Harry.

The date and place of the wedding has not been announced, although Kensington Palace has said it will take place in the spring.

Markle's first marriage took place in September 2011, to film producer Trevor Engelson.

Shortly before she and Engleson married, Markle's role in the TV drama Suits was confirmed and she began commuting between LA and Toronto to meet filming schedules.

The couple separated in early 2013 and divorced in August, citing irreconcilable differences.

Engelson kept the marital home and Markle moved to Toronto.

Source

• Stuff
• Daily Mail
• Vogue
• Image: Billboard