Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Fire Warning Of A Lawsuit Over Paparazzi Photos

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Fire Warning Of A Lawsuit Over Paparazzi Photos

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t playing with their post-royal life.

The couple, who revealed their plans to exit their senior roles in the royal family earlier this month, has now threatened to sue British tabloids and publications if they purchase and/or publish pictures from the paparazzi, according to NBC News. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s legal team issued a letter that said “action will be taken” if any outlets don’t follow this policy. The warning comes amid news that paparazzi have staked out just outside of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s house in hopes of capturing snapshots of the two.

The letter said,

“There are serious safety concerns about how the paparazzi are driving and the risk to life they pose.”

It even references photos of Meghan Markle walking her two dogs and carrying her and Prince Harry’s son Archie in a sling. The photographer is accused of hiding in the bushes so he could get the shot that several news outlets later published.

The paparazzi is certainly a sensitive topic for the royal family. Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997 in a car crash as she tried to escape from paparazzi in Paris and Meghan and Prince Harry have already proven they’re not afraid to take legal action against the media. Last fall they sued U.K. tabloid The Mail for misuse of private information along with other related claims.

Prince Harry also lashed out in a statement.

As a couple, we believe in media freedom and objective, truthful reporting. We regard it as a cornerstone of democracy and in the current state of the world – on every level – we have never needed responsible media more.

Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences – a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.

There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face – as so many of you can relate to – I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been. Because in today’s digital age, press fabrications are repurposed as truth across the globe. One day’s coverage is no longer tomorrow’s chip-paper.

Up to now, we have been unable to correct the continual misrepresentations – something that these select media outlets have been aware of and have therefore exploited on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.

It is for this reason we are taking legal action, a process that has been many months in the making. The positive coverage of the past week from these same publications exposes the double standards of this specific press pack that has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months; they have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave. She is the same woman she was a year ago on our wedding day, just as she is the same woman you’ve seen on this Africa tour.

For these select media this is a game, and one that we have been unwilling to play from the start. I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long. To stand back and do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in.

This particular legal action hinges on one incident in a long and disturbing pattern of behaviour by British tabloid media. 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. In addition to their unlawful publication of this private document, they purposely misled you by strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year.

There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives. Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this.

Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right one. Because 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.

We thank you, the public, for your continued support. It is hugely appreciated. Although it may not seem like it, we really need it.

What do you think about the couple possibly taking legal action? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.