Haec res mihi videtur tam similis earum de quibus scripsit Cornelius
Tacitus cum de Nerone vel Caligula scripsit, et earum de quibus scripsit
Cassius Dion apud Commodum, ut coner quantum possim (locutio
Ciceroniana, forsan melius "summa ope" plus aetatis argenteae habet)
eorum stilum adhibere.

Mea experientia familiae regiae (cuius sum membrum) me docuit quemque
nostrum in partes certas a diunariis popularibus conscribi.
In principio sine forma es usque adeo donec cognoverint tuos mores et
quid genus curarum sollicitationumque possis habere.
Deinde te cogere incipiunt ad partes quae eis optime placeant ac quam
plurima diurna vendant, praesertim cum tu es suppletorius heres.
Tum fis aut princeps voluptarius aut defectus aut nequissimus aut (mea
condicione) stultus vel defraudator vel potator impudes vel neglegens
medicamentis indulgens; et caetera.
Adulescentulus et iuvenis percepi tandem me eorum calumniis et
imaginibus aemulari praecipue quia, cum ei de me tantas quisquilias
ederent et eis crederetur, quidni denique scelus committeretur?
In inferiora semper itum est; diurnii enim mihi perpetuo suadebant ut
aliquid faciam brutum quod vendat multa diurna semel conscriptum.
Sed nunc vilissimus mihi commemoranti videtur eorum mos.

******************************

'Thicko, cheat, underage drinker'

"In my experience as a member of the Royal Family, each of us gets cast
into a specific role by the tabloid press.

"You start off as a blank canvas while they work out what kind of person
you are and what kind of problems and temptations you might have.

"They then start to edge you towards playing the role or roles that suit
them best and which sells as many newspapers as possible, especially if
you are the 'spare' to the 'heir'.

"You're then either the 'playboy prince', the 'failure', the 'dropout'
or, in my case, the 'thicko', the 'cheat', the 'underage drinker', the
'irresponsible drug taker', the list goes on.

"As a teenager and in my early 20s, I ended up feeling as though I was
playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes mainly because I
thought that, if they are printing this rubbish about me and people were
believing it, I may as well 'do the crime'.

"It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and
coax me into doing something stupid that would make a good story and
sell lots of newspapers.

"Looking back, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile."
(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65819707)

Ed