Meghan Markle sues British tabloid as Prince Harry warns of 'powerful forces'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attend a reception for young people, community and civil society leaders ain South Africa. - Copyright Mark Large/Pool via REUTERS

By Euronews

Published on 01/10/2019 - 21:29•Updated 02/10/2019 - 10:42

Comments

'I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces,' Harry says.

Meghan Markle has announced legal proceedings against a prominent British tabloid newspaper for publishing a private letter and pursuing a "media agenda" against her and her husband, Prince Harry.

The law firm representing the Duchess of Sussex, Schillings, described the publication by the Mail on Sunday as part of a "campaign [...] to publish false and deliberately derogatory stories."

The action was announced in a powerful statement by Prince Harry, in which he referenced the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.

Diana was hounded by photographers after her marriage to Harry's father, Prince Charles, and died in a car crash as she was pursued by paparazzi in Paris.

"My deepest fear is history repeating itself," Harry wrote.

"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."

Meghan Markle has been the subject of numerous negative stories in the British media since her marriage to Harry, the sixth in line to the British throne, in May 2018.

In his statement, Harry criticised the British tabloid media in general for the treatment of his wife, which he describes as a "relentless propaganda" campaign, waged even when Markle was on maternity leave before the birth of the couple's son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in May 2019.

"I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long. To stand back and do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in," Prince Harry said.

Bullying

"There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives," he says.

"Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this."

The legal action, which is being privately funded by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, claims privacy infringement, infringement of copyright and a "media agenda", which "is part of a campaign by this media group to publish false and deliberately derogatory stories about her, as well as her husband.

Euronews has contacted Associated Newspapers for comment.