Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are taking legal action against the tabloid that printed a private letter from the duchess to her father, with Prince Harry penning an emotional statement about the lawsuit. It’s very similar to the efforts that Prince William has taken to protect Kate Middleton.

Prince Harry’s statement blasted the media

Prince Harry issued a statement explaining the lawsuit, slamming the media for bullying Markle, and comparing her treatment to his late mother, Princess Diana. In part, he wrote: “My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

In 2016, Prince Harry lashed out in a statement about Markle’s privacy, noting: “Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm. He knows that it is unusual to issue a statement like this, but hopes that fair-minded people will understand why he has felt it necessary to speak publicly.”

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In Tembisa, Johannesburg, today The Duke and Duchess visited to meet young entrepreneurs at the YES hub – a hive for creativity and social enterprise. Their visit was an amazing tour of the ingenuity and opportunity – seeing businesses that varied from food to essential sanitary products for local women. During their visit, they were able to sample food from ‘Chef Mish’ – a local masterchef winner – which he makes at the site as part of his catering business and cafe. They then joined YES community members to take part in training and tests that will help them gain skills and find work. On the third stop today, entrepreneur Moss showed The Duke and Duchess the organic produce he’s growing in the township with aquaponics – supplying local restaurants. And finally, The Duke and Duchess met the women behind the amazing Blossom Care Solutions – who are making 80,000 sanitary pads every month for women in their community. They are 100% compostable, and provide an essential low-cost product for women and girls. The Duchess has long campaigned on this issue and wrote in Time magazine in 2017, saying: “In communities all over the globe, young girls’ potential is being squandered because we are too shy to talk about the most natural thing in the world. To that I say: we need to push the conversation, mobilize policy making surrounding menstrual health initiatives, support organizations who foster girls’ education from the ground up, and within our own homes, we need to rise above our puritanical bashfulness when it comes to talking about menstruation.” • See our previous post to see The Dukes speech #RoyalVisitSouthAfrica Photo ©️ PA images

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Oct 2, 2019 at 5:26am PDT

Prince Harry’s statement under fire

Prince Charles’ biographer Penny Junor weighed in on Prince Harry’s remarks, noting: “This is the most extraordinary statement and goes way beyond anything I have ever seen issued by a member of the Royal Family.”

Junor added: “I completely understand that Harry should feel protective about his wife and there have undoubtedly been some negative stories in the last nine months that must have hurt — but not exclusively in the Mail on Sunday — and they have not all been lies, nor I would suggest, part of a ruthless campaign.”

Overall, she didn’t feel it was especially helpful, noting that it “feels to me like an over-emotional and somewhat ill-advised outburst.”

Prince William took similar actions to protect his wife

Prince William has also had to speak out to protect his
wife, as was seen when they were dating and paparazzi were overstepping their
boundaries.

A Clarence House spokesman noted at the time: “Prince William is very unhappy at the paparazzi harassment of his girlfriend. He wants, more than anything, for it to stop. Miss Middleton should, like any other private individual, be able to go about her everyday business without this kind of intrusion.”

The way Prince Harry defended his wife was reminiscent of the way Prince William protected wife Kate Middleton when topless photos were taken of her during their 2012 vacation.

Photographers snagged pictures of Middleton sunbathing topless while the couple were vacationing and the images were published in the French magazine Closer.

An official statement was released at the time, reading: “Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner. The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to The Duke and Duchess for being so.”

The statement continued: “Their Royal Highnesses had
every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone
should take such photographs, let alone publish them. Officials acting on
behalf of Their Royal Highnesses are consulting with lawyers to consider what
options may be available to The Duke and Duchess.”