The British press has responded to the legal action being taken out against them by Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle.
In a rare statement on Wednesday, Prince Harry revealed that he had been “silent witness” to the merciless negative press that his wife has had to endure, including characteristic savagery and the release of a personal letter between the Duchess and her father, Thomas Markle.
In a rare statement from Prince Harry, he wrote: “As a couple, we believe in media freedom and objective, truthful reporting. We regard it as a cornerstone of democracy and in the current state of the world – on every level – we have never needed responsible media more.
“Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences – a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.”
The Duke of Sussex added that the legal process “has been many months in the making,” and that to stay silent on the matter “would be contrary to everything we believe in.”
“Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right one,” he said. “Because my deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan during an outing in South Africa.
(Source: Getty Images)Prince Harry is taking action against the Mail on Sunday who released a letter written by Meghan, to her father Thomas Markle, stating that it had been “published unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question”.
“In addition to their unlawful publication of this private document, they purposely misled you by strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year.”
After the shock announcement by the Duke of Sussex, which is believed to have not been sanctioned by palace advisers, the tabloid in question released a response.
“We categorically deny that the duchess’s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning,” a spokesman said.
Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry have been carrying out official duties while in South Africa.
(Source: Getty Images)Former Daily Mirror editor Roy Greenslade has questioned whether the legal action is “counter-productive”, with BBC royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell agreeing by questioning the “curious” timing, considering the couple’s Africa tour had been such a success – particularly when it came to the tabloids.
“It has lifted their reputation after a series of missteps involving private jets and expensive property renovations. Now they have chosen to take one of the most powerful newspaper groups in Britain to court and launched this stinging assault on an entire section of the British media,” he said.
“British tabloids are not afraid of a fight. They may well feel provoked by the language in this statement. Was it wise? We shall see.”
Of course, the harshest response has been by Piers Morgan, who has publicly taken aim at the young royals, specifically the Duchess in the past.
In a story written for The Daily Mail, Piers said that during the royal tour, the couple have “seemed more relaxed and happy than they’ve appeared for a long time, even dancing for the cameras in front of cheering crowds.”
“I was going to say this tour marked a significant and much-needed turning point in the relentless stream of negativity that’s poured on Harry and Meghan’s heads over the past few months.”
Prince Harry, Duchess Meghan and their four-month-old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
(Source: Getty Images)He then went on to say that the Harry’s letter was “one of the most extraordinary rants I’ve ever read from anyone in the Royal Family, and one of the most inexplicable.”
“Why petrol-bomb glowingly positive end-of-tour reports with a furnace of negative fury? Not for the first time, I don’t understand what the hell Harry and Meghan are thinking.
“Particularly as we swiftly learned that they didn’t tell anyone at Buckingham Palace about it.
“This seems like another catastrophic PR failure to me, one that has ruined all the good work they’ve done to rebuild their battered image after a long period of sustained criticism.
“And let’s be brutally frank: they’ve brought most of that criticism on themselves.”
