Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are suing four tabloid media outlets but their lawsuits could backfire, according to a legal expert.
Over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have filed cases against the Daily Mail, The Sun, Splash News and a member of the paparazzi whose identity is still undetermined. Prince Harry and Meghan have claimed in court that the respondents had breached their privacy and copyrights under the UK's Data Protection legislation.
In April, Harry and Megan also declared that they would cease contact with some news agencies in the U.K. The Sussex couple said that they will not engage the journalists working from these agencies as they continue to proliferate unverified stories.
But Amber Melville-Brown, a practicing lawyer from Withers, said in an interview with Insider that Prince Harry and Meghan's strategy may have been misjudged and misinformed. The legal expert viewed the Sussex pair's actions as an "attempt to control the British tabloid press."
Melville-Brown said that while Harry and Meghan have the right to fight for their privacy, they are in a kind of war that they "cannot win." The lawyer said that cutting off the tabloid press will only embolden these organizations to be more aggressive and persistent in finding stories about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Another expert agreed with Melville-Brown's observations. Eric Schiffer of Reputation Management Consultants said that Harry and Meghan's approach to sue every news outlet that prints unverified stories about them could affect their branding and image.
Schiffer compared the Sussex couple's strategy to the PR of Buckingham Palace. He said the royal family's team implement a "degree of sophistication" in the way they handle negative press. Harry and Meghan, on the other hand, are apparently still clearly learning the rules of the game.
According to Newsweek, while 2020 might be deemed as Harry and Meghan's Year of Freedom, it's also a year marked with numerous lawsuits. The report cited that Harry is also suing the anti-monarchy group, Republic, for implying that he and Prince William mismanaged charity funds.
Prince William made a statement denying the group's claims but Harry threatened to "use the weight of the law" to correct the accusation. The Duke of Sussex's lawyers said that the Republic's accusations are "defamatory and insulting."
More recently, Prince Harry also lawyered up when the Sunday Times reported he canceled an Invictus Games fundraiser. because it's in conflict with his Netflix deal. The report upset the royal because it suggested he wasn't committed to his charity. His lawyers clarified that the cancellation was due to the pandemic and has no connection with his Netflix contract.
