How Prince Harry Is Following Prince William’s Example By Protecting Meghan Markle

Prince Harry has made waves following his strongly worded statement regarding the portrayal of his wife, Meghan Markle, on the media, and the reveal that the couple is suing the Mail on Sunday. However, he is far from the first royal to take such action when it comes to protecting his loved ones.

According to Express UK, Prince William, as well as Queen Elizabeth, took similar precautions when trying to help protect Kate Middleton’s privacy as well, as she was continually hounded by the press prior to becoming engaged to her long-term boyfriend.

In fact, in the 2005 documentary, “Chasing the Royals,” it was revealed that the Queen’s lawyers had threatened legal action over private photos that were taken of Middleton during a Christmas holiday with her family in Cornwall, where she was seen playing Tennis on Prince Charles’ courts. Media organizations in the UK were barred from publishing the images, though they did appear in the German press.

A new privacy strategy was also masterminded for the royal family in 2009 between the Queen and Gerrard Tyrell, which allowed the royals to take legal action against any photographers who they saw exhibiting “intrusive and unacceptable behavior.” That was two years after Middleton and Prince William were hounded as they left a nightclub together and were pursued by at least seven photographers on motorbikes, scooters and in a car. The incident was eerily similar to the circumstances that surrounded Princess Diana’s death a decade earlier.

The amount of harassment that Middleton faced in that year, in particular, led to Prince William also making a statement through a spokesperson, reiterating that at the time, his girlfriend was a private citizen and deserved to be treated as such.

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

William and Harry are also not the first to take action either, though both have likely decided to do so because of what they remember their mother experiencing prior to her premature death. Both have invoked the paparazzi’s role in her death while making statements on behalf of their families in the past.

Prince Edward also made a similar move prior to marrying Sophie, Countess of Wessex, in 1999 as well, and even made a statement four years before Diana’s death asking for Sophie’s privacy to be respected.

“I am taking this unusual step of writing to you directly in the hopes of stopping your reporters and photographers from destroying that part of my life that I am entitled to regard as private and more importantly, Sophie’s life,” he said at the time.