TAKING A STAND

Meghan Markle Sues U.K. Tabloid for Publishing Private Letter to Her Dad

“There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behavior, because it destroys people and destroys lives,” Prince Harry said.

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has taken legal action against a U.K. newspaper that published a private letter she wrote to her father earlier this year. In a statement, Prince Harry wrote that his wife has become “one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press”—which he said has waged a “ruthless campaign” against her. “The contents of a private letter were published unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question,” the Duke of Sussex wrote. “There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behavior, because it destroys people and destroys lives.” He then wrote that he feared “history repeating itself,” referring to how his late mother, Princess Diana, was treated by the press. “I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person,” he wrote. “I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Markle is suing British newspaper The Mail on Sunday and its parent company, Associated Newspapers, over the “misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.” The case is being funded by the Duke and Duchess privately, and the royals say any money resulting from the case will be given to an anti-bullying charity.