Mail, a British tabloid newspaper has been slapped with a lawsuit for illegally publishing a handwritten private letter sent by the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle to her estranged father. The royal couple in a statement said that they were forced to take action against the publisher as Prince Harry got personal over how the press treated his wife, saying he could no longer be a silent witness to her private suffering.
He accused parts of the media of waging campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences, throughout Meghan’s pregnancy and while raising our newborn. Harry emphasized that he and Meghan believed in media freedom and objective, truthful reporting as a cornerstone of democracy.
“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.
“My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized 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. Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level,” said Prince Harry, referring to his late mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 as the car she was in was followed through the streets of Paris by paparazzi.
He also accused the paper of misleading readers when it published the private letter, by strategically omitting paragraphs, sentences, and specific words to mask the lies they had perpetrated for over a year. However, a spokesperson of the publisher categorically denied that the Duchess’ letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning, and that the publisher stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously.
Law firm Schillings, representing the Duchess has already filed a High Court claim against the paper and its parent company for the alleged misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.
