Mail makes Archbishop's fall all about Meghan

“Downfall of the woke archbishop” was how the Daily Mail reported Justin Welby’s overdue resignation – and regular readers of the vengeful right wing publication could have been in no doubt about what would follow next.

It was, of course, to link the soon-to-be-former Archbishop of Canterbury with the paper’s favourite targets, appearing to suggest that the scandal that rightly brought him down may have been related to their malign influence.

“How Justin Welby ‘fell under Harry and Meghan’s spell’: As Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over ‘ignoring’ prolific sex abuser’s crimes, how his friendship with the Sussexes raised questions about his judgement” read the headline on a story by Cameron Roy. This noted breathlessly that “the relationship between Welby and the Sussexes has been known in the corridors of Lambeth Palace and Buckingham Palace for some time” – as it would have been to any TV viewer who watched him officiate at their 2017 wedding.

Roy continued this amazing scoop with shocking accusations about Welby, including that “his habit of sticking up for the Sussexes seems to go beyond simple respect” and that “Palace sources claimed in 2023 he had ‘completely fallen under their spell'”.

Though guilty in the Mail‘s eyes of infecting the Archbishop with advanced wokeness, it is difficult to see what relevance the royal couple can be accused of having on the long silence that has cost Welby his role.

Welby says he was not made aware of allegations against Smyth until August 2013, three years before Prince Harry and Meghan even met. Others say he was warned that Smyth was “not a nice man” in Easter 1981, over three years before Harry was born.

Meanwhile, Roy’s other groundbreaking work on exposing the awful truth about a minor royal and his wife includes “Does Meghan Markle have the ‘worst judgment of anyone in the entire world’?”, “The exam that put ‘straight A student’ Meghan Markle in her place”, “Is Meghan Markle’s obsession with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop the inspiration for her upcoming lifestyle brand?” and now this remarkable Welby exclusive – all written in the last four days.

Have Roy and the Mail also fallen under Harry and Meghan’s spell? Or would they publish any old rubbish for clicks?