Loose Women was the subject of complaints last week over an episode that included a debate about the Royal Family and panelist Denise Welch has since addressed the backlash

Denise Welch has addressed complaints to Ofcom after a debate about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently, with her having been a vocal supporter of the couple.

It was announced just days ago that regulatory body Ofcom had received more than a hundred complaints from Loose Women viewers over a recent episode of the ITV show. It had included a discussion about the Royal Family.

During the episode on Monday last week, panellist Denise, 65, defended Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42. She clashed with guest Dickie Arbiter, 83, who was formerly a press secretary to the late Queen and her son King Charles III.

Denise has since further defended Meghan – who married into the Royal Family in 2018 – in a post on Instagram. She took to the platform following the episode and addressed the complaints, suggesting that they are “utterly pathetic”.

An episode of Loose Women, that featured a discussion about the Royal Family between Dickie Arbiter (left) and Denise Welch (right), was met with Ofcom complaints last week ( 
Image:
ITV)

Denise’s post included a photo of Meghan that’s believed to have been taken on her trip to Nigeria. The latter visited the country with her husband Prince Harry recently. Denise wrote about the former actor in the accompanying caption.

Th presenter wrote: “[Meghan] has been a spokeswoman for women of colour and gender equality since she was 11 yrs old. She has held a place on the world stage for years before she met Harry as a UN women’s advocate.”

She continued in the caption: “I am appalled that this woman is abused and berated by the public and media on a daily basis. Not many people could mentally cope with the hate she contends with. No wonder her husband took her away and despite everything they are thriving. Their reception in Nigeria has been wonderful to see.”

Denise concluded the post by telling her followers on the social media platform recently: “Last week I defended them against one of their detractors on tv and received 103 complaints from Ofcom!!! Good. Also utterly pathetic.”

Denise has shown support towards Prince Harry (left) and Meghan Markle (right), including in the debate on the ITV show ( 
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
The discussion on Loose Women attracted attention last week. As reported at the time, Dickie said at one point: “[Prince] Harry has been rubbishing the family since he walked out in 2020.” He went on to mention the memoir Spare, released last year, and various TV interviews.

Denise questioned: “Do you not think there is a reason why [he] did such a thing?” She then mentioned experiences in Prince Harry’s life, including the highly-publicised death of his late mother Princess Diana when he was a child and his stepmother Queen Camilla ‘s introduction to his family.

She later told Dickie: “Then he has a wife who is continually trashed by the media, including your good self, if I may say – when she is on a world stage, doing a lot of good for a lot of people.” Denise added during the discussion last week: “I am just sick to death of the bashing that this woman gets.”

Dickie, as previously reported, said that he was “not going to argue” with her and suggested that she had read “too many tabloid stories”. Denise said that she’s “read a lot” about Meghan and thinks “it’ a disgrace, the way she’s treated.”