Meghan Markle and Prince Harry 'attempted to gag school children to stop negative comments'
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been accused of trying to stop negative publicity about the trip
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's aides have been accused of attempting to gag pupils from ever speaking negatively about a school visit from the Sussexes.
It has been claimed that advisers working at the couple's Archewell foundation insisted on Public School 123 in New York signing an agreement which would ban teachers of children from being allowed to make comments which did not paint the couple in a good light.
Demands that the agreement were signed came ahead of a visit by Meghan and Harry in 2001 to promote the Duchess's new book "The Bench".
Meghan read the tale to children at the school while being filmed by a Netflix crew for the couple's documentary "Harry & Meghan".
The couple's Archewell foundation sent an 'appearance release' days before the visit
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Just days before the engagement the Archewell foundation issued an agreement to the Department of Education setting out the terms of the visit, according to The Sun.
It reports that freedom of information requests make clear that the "appearance release" included details about what could and could not be said post-the visit.
All those involved in the visit would be banned from speaking to the press or publishing social media posts "now or in the future" that criticised the Sussexes.
Archewell urged the school to run the deal past its lawyers.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have attempted to control the media since quitting the Royal Family
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Sources told The Sun that a standard agreement was issued to the school.
It remains unclear if the terms were ever finalised or if they were dropped at the last minute.
Meghan and Harry have been careful to try and control their publicity since stepping down as working members of the Royal Family.
The couple have tried to only engage with the media when they want to.
It has seen the Sussexes provide sit down interview with friends such as Oprah Winfrey and release their own carefully controlled material on Netflix and Spotify but not engage with mainstream news outlets.
When they first announced their decision to step back from The Firm, the couple vowed to help start up journalism outlets but ignore the tabloid press.