BBC changes term ‘Megxit’ to ‘Sussexit’ after Prince Harry dubbed it ‘sexist’
Prince Harry | AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool
After Prince Harry said that the term “Megxit” had sexist connotations, the BBC replaced it with “Sussexit” in its new documentary days.
The term “Megxit,” a combination of Meghan Markle’s name and the word “exit,” was invented by The Sun after she and Prince Harry announced their decision to step down as senior members of the British royal family.
Since then, the term has been widely used by the press and social media users to refer to Harry and Meghan’s exit from royal life, inspired by the similar slogan “Brexit” representing Britain’s exit from the European Union. The word was even listed as one of the top ten new words of 2020 in the Collins English Dictionary.
However, in a recent speech, Prince Harry stated that the term is sexist because it places the entire blame for their joint resignation as working royals on his wife.
He explained, “Maybe people know this and maybe they don’t, but the term Megxit was or is a misogynistic term, and it was created by a troll, amplified by royal correspondents and it grew and grew and grew into mainstream media.”
According to The Telegraph, the BBC has changed the title of the second episode of their documentary “Sussexit,” from Megxit to “The Princes and The Press.” A portmanteau of Sussexes and exit.
The second part of the controversial documentary, which has sparked a feud between the broadcaster and the royal family for airing claims that royal households fed negative stories about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the press during their exit, will start investigating these allegations in detail.
The first part featured Meghan’s lawyer Jenny Afia insisting that the narrative that the Duchess of Sussex was “difficult and demanding as a boss” and forced her employees to quit due to bullying was false. Omid Scobie, co-author of Meghan and Harry’s unauthorized biography “Finding Freedom,” also claimed that some people in royal households felt Meghan “needed to be put in her place” and “punished” her by leaking negative stories.
The program requested a strong joint statement from Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Kensington Palace in response to “overblown and unfounded claims.”
