Britain’s Prince Harry says some “powerful forces” that pursued his mother to death are now after Meghan Markle, his wife.
Diana, his mother, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. She died in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi in Paris on August 31, 1997.
In a statement on Tuesday, the prince said he feared history repeating itself as he is watching his “wife falling victim to the same powerful forces” which plagued his mother’s life.
Harry announced that he was suing Mail On Sunday over the newspaper’s publication of Meghan’s private letter to her father, from whom she is estranged.
He said the paper’s “ruthless campaign” against his wife had escalated during her pregnancy when she could not defend herself.
“The contents of a private letter were published unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question,” Harry said.
“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.”
He said while they had continued to “put on a brave face, I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been.”
He said readers were misled by the newspaper “strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year.”
“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,” he said.
“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.
“There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face — as so many of you can relate to — I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been.
“Because in today’s digital age, press fabrications are repurposed as truth across the globe. One day’s coverage is no longer tomorrow’s chip-paper.
“Up to now, we have been unable to correct the continual misrepresentations — something that these select media outlets have been aware of and have therefore exploited on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.
“It is for this reason we are taking legal action, a process that has been many months in the making.
“The positive coverage of the past week from these same publications exposes the double standards of this specific press pack that has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months; they have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave.
“She is the same woman she was a year ago on our wedding day, just as she is the same woman you’ve seen on this Africa tour.
“For these select media, this is a game, and one that we have been unwilling to play from the start. 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. This particular legal action hinges on one incident in a long and disturbing pattern of behaviour by British tabloid media.
“The contents of a private letter were published unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question.
“There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives. 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. Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right one. Because my deepest fear is history repeating itself.
“I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces. We thank you, the public, for your continued support. It is hugely appreciated. Although it may not seem like it, we really need it.”
