SUSANNA Reid defended Piers Morgan over his Meghan Markle comments as the Good Morning Britain panel attacked him in his absence.
The ITV breakfast host was speaking with journalist Ayesha Hazarika about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s upcoming tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
When speaking about the reaction to Meghan, Ayesha called Piers “one of the biggest trolls against her”.
The journalist said: “Of course there’s not sympathy for her. No offence to your colleague who is not here Piers Morgan, he’s one of the biggest trolls against her.
“She’s literally responsible for everything. I did a tweet about her, ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t believe she killed [murdered Saudi journalist Jamal] Khashoggi while wearing the wrong nail varnish’.
“And people’s responses are hilarious. This woman has been held responsible for everything. “
But Susanna responded: “Ayesha, sorry, if you’re going to reference someone who is not here, we need to be a little bit careful.
“You describe him as a troll. He has his criticisms but he can answer for himself. He has his criticisms.”
Piers has long been a critic of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The 55-year-old presenter said yesterday the couple need to take their “hypocritical halos” off as they have finally “cracked”.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is facing allegations of bullying staff by one of her closest advisers during her time at Kensington Palace.
A source told The Times she drove two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third.
Staff were reportedly bullied and some were even reduced to tears due to difficult demands, but Meghan strongly denies the allegations.
Writing for MailOnline, Piers said: “All of this makes shocking reading and if it’s all true, then it makes a complete mockery of Meghan and Harry’s endless victimhood tour.
“It’s too late for Oprah to ask them about it because her interview is in the can.
“Instead, we’ll just hear the Sussexes portray themselves as the bullied victims, not the bullies that it is now claimed they were themselves.
“And we’ll hear Meghan cry that she was silenced, when in fact it’s the alleged victims of her own bullying who have been silenced and had their voice taken away.”
The row comes after Meghan Markle wore earrings gifted to her by the Saudi Crown Prince.
The Duchess, 39, wore the jewellery at a dinner in Fiji in October 2018 – three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The killing of Khashoggi was reportedly ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Meghan’s Butani earrings were given to her by Salman as a wedding gift.
At the time of the formal dinner, the Duchess told aides that the expensive jewellery was “borrowed” but declined to offer any further information on them.
Her lawyers have insisted that at the time, Meghan was unaware of the widespread speculation that the Saudi royal family was likely behind the killing of the Washington Post journalist.
Yet, according to The Telegraph, royal aides advised the Duchess not to wear the earrings.
A palace insider said: “Members of Royal Household staff sometimes advise people on their options.
“But what they choose to do with that advice is a very different matter.”
