Prince Harry’s statement warning the British media over racist comments about Meghan Markle has been taken down from the Royal Family’s official website.
Newsweek reported in November 2016, just days after his relationship with Meghan Markle became public, Prince Harry instructed then-Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf to take a public stand against the British press.
For more than seven years, Harry’s statement defending Meghan was archived on royal.uk – the website where the British royal family posts press releases, records and official announcements. However, there is no trace of that statement on the site.
Harry made a statement criticizing the British press shortly after publicly announcing his relationship with Meghan. Photo: Getty Images.
The Internet archive Wayback Machine recorded the last active statement as December 3, 2023. However, access failed on December 10, 2023, suggesting that the post was deleted in the interim.
Newsweek called the statement a pivotal moment in Harry’s life, as it represented the first clear sign of the Duke of Sussex’s stance against the press over his and Meghan’s coverage. It also broke with the royal family’s decades-long tradition of “never complain, never explain” when dealing with the media.
At the time, a spokesman for Harry said: “His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subjected 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 racist comments in the comments, the sexism and racism of trolls on social media and the comments under articles on the web. Some of it has been hidden from the public – the nightly legal battles to stop defamatory stories from appearing in the press. It’s the struggle of her mother to get past photographers to get to her door, the attempts by reporters and photographers to enter her home and the subsequent calls to the police, the substantial bribes paid by the press to her ex-boyfriend, the relentless attacks on almost every friend, colleague and loved one in her life.
Prince Harry is concerned for Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that just a few months into their relationship, Ms Markle has been subjected to such a storm of punishment. He knows that commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and ‘it’s all part of the game’. He completely disagrees. This is not a game, this is her life and his.”
Falling in love with the British Prince made Meghan the center of the press. Photo: Getty Images.
In his biography Spare, Harry revealed that he was advised that silence was the best option, but the Duke, born in 1984, disagreed. In just one day, he and his staff wrote a draft that was “powerful, precise, angry and honest”.
Harry added that despite his strong words, he could not improve the situation, and the fierce attack was still aimed at Meghan. In addition, according to Harry, his decision to speak up to defend his girlfriend at that time angered King Charles and Prince William. The red-haired prince believes that his father and brother’s reaction was to hide their bad feelings because they could not defend their wives in the same way.
The removal of the statement is not the first move by the British royal family regarding Harry and Meghan on their official website. Earlier this year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s separate personal profiles were combined into one, and significantly shortened.