Harry instructed then Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf to issue a public broadside against the press in November 2016, just days after the Duke of Sussex’s relationship with Meghan became public knowledge.
For more than seven years, that lengthy and strongly worded statement was recorded for posterity on the royal.uk website, where the monarchy posts press releases, profiles, and official announcements.
Now, though, the link has stopped working, and the internet archive site Wayback Machine last successfully recorded a functioning version of it on December 3, 2023. A further attempt to archive the page on December 10 was unsuccessful, suggesting it was deleted some time in between.
It was a major moment in Harry’s life, as it was the first definitive indication of his now well-established desire to fight the press over its coverage of both himself and Meghan.
And in his book Spare, Harry said it left King Charles III and Prince William “furious,” because it made them look bad for not defending their own wives in the same way.
The now-deleted statement came days after an article in The Mail on Sunday proclaiming: “Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed—so will he be dropping by for tea?”
Kensington Palace released the statement on November 8, 2016, attributed to “the Communications Secretary to Prince Harry” which read: “The past week has seen a line crossed. His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment.
“Some of this has been very public—the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.
“Some of it has been hidden from the public—the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.
“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 commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and that ‘this is all part of the game.’ He strongly disagrees. This is not a game—it is her life and his.”