The media has scrutinized the lives of every member of the royal family, from past Kings and Queens to Harry and Meghan.
The confrontation with Britain’s tabloids intensified tensions, which led to a rift between Prince Harry and his family, according to Prince Harry, who portrays himself as a courageous man of principle who challenged the media when his family members did not.
But not all the blame can be left at the feet of the media.
When King Charles III became king, he did not bestow the titles of Prince and Princess upon Harry and Meghan’s two kids, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. At the time, factors like skin tone were a factor. This is a “rift” that the tabloids had little to do with. Sometimes the media is simply…reporting the truth, it turns out.
The 39-year-old duke filed a damages lawsuit against News Group Newspapers, alleging that the news outlet’s journalists were involved in phone hacking, information fraud, and the hiring of private detectives.
Last year, Harry made accusations in a High Court claim that his brother William had settled with NGN for a “huge sum of money” in 2020 about allegations of phone hacking.
The duke said that a “secret agreement” between the royal family and NGN executives prevented him from bringing his claim sooner and that Charles’s staff obstructed his efforts to get media tycoon Rupert Murdoch to apologize.
Harry said that it’s not paranoia when people are actually out to get you. The Duke of Sussex has stated that his family bond was severely damaged by his struggle against tabloid publications over phone hacking.
Additionally, Harry claims that journalists and private detectives working for NGN, the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, engaged in illicit information-gathering, although not phone hacking.
During an interview for an upcoming ITV program titled Tabloids On Trial, which will premiere on Thursday, the duke expressed his desire for the support of his family members.