Before Prince Harry famously declared that he stepped back from his royal duties to protect his wife, Meghan Markle, from the prying British tabloid press, his brother, Prince William, and uncle, Prince Edward, also did the same and protected their respective partners, Kate Middleton and Sophie Rhys Jones, from the media hounding.
Royal author Marcia Moody wrote in the book, Kate: A Biography, that William was forced to address the media in a legal manner after the invasion of his then-girlfriend, Kate, in 2005. Apparently, the Duke of Cambridge did not like how Kate was photographed getting off the bus to get to job interviews as it indicated that she was being followed around, hounded by the paparazzi.
Moody said that William discussed Kate's predicament with his father, Prince Charles, who wisely told him to consult with the royal lawyers. They prepared a letter addressed to all newspaper editors in the U.K. to ask the press to respect Kate's privacy.
William also did his own reading and research on the laws that could keep Kate protected from the media invasion. Like Harry, William has never trusted the tabloid media and understood that their mother, Princess Diana, also struggled with this when she was still alive.
But before William and Harry, there was also Prince Edward, Charles' youngest brother, who also wrote a letter to the press to stop "destroying" the life of his then-girlfriend, Sophie. This happened in the early 1990s when Edward and Sophie, now the Earl and Countess of Wessex, were still dating.
The press was curious about the woman, who worked in public relations, who has been seen with Edward for a number of times. They speculated on her everything about life, including the color of her hair.
According to reports, the scrutiny became most unnerving for Sophie because she was never in the royal circle compared to Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who grew up around royals. In the book Prince Edward: A Biography, royal author Ingrid Seward said that the Earl of Wessex pleaded with the media because his relationship with Sophie was still in the early stages and he wanted this to develop naturally. He feared that the prying could destroy what they have, as well as ruin Sophie's life ahead of her, whether they ended up together or not.
It comes as Harry said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he feared history repeating itself when the press attacked Meghan. The Duke of Sussex said that he couldn't imagine what his mother had been through, amid the media spectacle around her, because she was all alone with that struggle. Harry said that at least Meghan had him to thrive to this situation.
The interview with Winfrey will air on Sunday, Mar. 7, in the U.S. on CBS and then on Monday, Mar. 8, in the U.K. on ITV.
