Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is stepping up his battle versus the tabloid press by suing two more publishers. After filing a lawsuit to protect his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, the duke has, in total, gone after the Daily Mail, Mirror, and The Sun in just a matter of a week.
On Friday, Oct. 4, it was confirmed that Prince Harry would be suing two more tabloids -- Mirror and The Sun -- over a phone-hacking incident in 2011. Allegedly, the news outlets illegally intercepted some voicemail messages of the royal. Sources said that the legal proceedings for these cases had been issued in the High Court. However, the parties involved have yet to receive the legal papers.
Experts said that this latest lawsuit may be tied to the phone hackings in the early 2000s that also targeted Prince Harry's brother, Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. The scandal led to the folding up of News of the World, from the same outlet that also publishes The Sun.
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, Prince Harry issued a statement citing his decision to sue Daily Mail and its weekend publication Mail on Sunday. The news outlet allegedly published a slanted version of the contents of Duchess Meghan's private letters to her father in February.
Citing the bullying of the British press towards his wife, Prince Harry said that the importance of "objective, truthful reporting" needs to be stressed. He decided to take legal action because he feared history repeating himself itself and compared the way the press has treated his mother, Princess Diana, to the press' treatment of Duchess Meghan. Prince Harry also said that he will no longer be a silent witness to his wife's private suffering and that standing back and doing nothing is against what he believes in.
Palace sources, however, said that Prince Harry didn't heed to senior royal aides' advice over announcing the lawsuit while he and his wife were still on their royal tour of South Africa, per The Times. They worried that the controversy would overshadow the positive press brought by the tour.
Prince Harry also apparently didn't consult with Prince Charles, and Prince William regarding the lawsuit and both found out about it like everyone else, when Prince Harry issued the statement. However, a source from the palace said that Queen Elizabeth's private secretary had been briefed beforehand.
