Prince Harry has unveiled the chilling reason why he won't bring his wife, Meghan Markle, back to the UK, citing concerns about potential acid attacks. In an interview for the ITV documentary "Tabloids on Trial," the Duke of Sussex expressed his fear, stating, "All it takes is one lone actor, one person who read this stuff, to act on what they have read, and whether that is a knife or acid... they are genuine concerns for me, they are one of the reasons I won't bring my wife back to this country."
These concerns echo sentiments shared nearly two years ago by Neil Basu, the outgoing assistant commissioner of specialist operations at Scotland Yard. In a Channel 4 documentary, Basu highlighted the "disgusting and very real" threats against the couple. "If you'd seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it, the kind of rhetoric that's online ... you would feel under threat all of the time," Basu stated. He also noted that teams had been investigating these threats, leading to several prosecutions.
During his sit-down with ITV News's Rebecca Barry, Harry also touched upon his ongoing legal battles with UK newspaper publishers, which he believes have strained his relationship with his family. "Yeah, that's certainly a central piece to it," he said. "But that's a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press. I've made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done."
Harry's fight against the tabloids is deeply personal. He recently settled a case against Mirror Group Newspapers, with a judge concluding there was "extensive" phone hacking by MGN between 2006 and 2011, and "even to some extent" during the Leveson Inquiry into media standards. Reflecting on his victory, Harry stated, "I did feel vindicated. Phone hacking has been going on for a long time... There's a huge amount that has come to light now that people and the British public, specifically, had no idea about."
Harry alleges that his voicemails were intercepted, and flight records were obtained dishonestly, among other invasions of his privacy. "It felt like harassment," he said. "It felt horrible then. It feels horrible now." His ongoing battle with the press is also influenced by his desire to protect Meghan and their children, Archie and Lilibet, who live with them in Montecito, California. "It's clear now to everybody that the risk of taking on the press and the risk of such retaliation from them of taking these claims forward. It's clearly not in [the royal family's] interest to do that," he explained.
The Duke of Sussex emphasized the importance of justice in his fight against the press. "I'm trying to get justice for everybody," Harry told Rebecca Barry. "This is a David versus Goliath situation - the Davids are the claimants, and the Goliath is this vast media enterprise."
Harry's legal battles have not been without personal cost. He acknowledged that taking these tabloids to court has caused a "rift" with his family. "There's no one better placed to see this thing through than myself," he asserted, before discussing the danger the tabloid press poses to his family's safety. "It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."
The prince also shared that his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, supported his fight against the tabloids. "We had many conversations before she passed. This is very much something she supported. She knew how much this meant to me," he recalled. "She's very much up there saying, 'See this through to the end,' without question."
The ITV documentary also featured other high-profile figures, including Hugh Grant and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who have also fought legal battles against the tabloids. Grant shared his own experiences of being targeted, describing how his flat was burgled, microphones were planted in his window boxes, and medical records were stolen. "These people live above the law and the police," he said.
As Harry continues his fight, the documentary delves into the broader implications of the phone-hacking scandal, including accusations of cover-ups by media organizations. Despite denials from News Group Newspapers (NGN), a former reporter revealed that phone hacking was "almost an industry-standard technique."
