Meghan Markle Releases Statement After Investigator Admits To Illegally Obtaining Data About Her For Tabloid

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are speaking out after a private investigator admitted he had been hired by U.K. tabloid The Sun to acquire information about her when her romance with Prince Harry was still blossoming.

In a statement released through their rep, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex urged the media industry to reflect on its "predatory practices." The couple has been subjected to various inaccurate and misleading reports, which they both addressed in their sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month.

"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex feel that today is an important moment of reflection for the media industry and society at large, as this investigative report shows that the predatory practices of days past are still ongoing, reaping irreversible damage for families and relationships," a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement to People.

"They are grateful to those working in media who stand for upholding the values of journalism, which are needed now more than ever before," the spokesperson continued.

This comes after veteran U.S. private investigator Daniel Hanks, 74, told BBC that he was paid by The Sun to obtain personal information about the duchess and her family members. This includes Markle's social security number, address and phone number.

"Pretty much everything I found out they could find out themselves using legal means - with the exception of the social security numbers," he told BBC. "When you have that information… it's the key to the kingdom."

The investigator, who was also known as Danno Hanks when he was still active, said he watched the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview with Winfrey two weeks ago.

The royal couple's revelation about a "toxic environment" of "control and fear" and their fraught relationship with the U.K. tabloid prompted him to speak up after Graham Johnson, a freelance journalist and editor of Byline Investigates, approached him. Johnson, a former investigations editor at the Sunday Mirror, pleaded guilty to two counts of phone hacking in 2013.

"I'm just doing it to clear my conscience," Hanks admitted.

"I'm deeply sorry for what I did... and I'm available if your lawyers need to talk to me. I'm ready to give you what I know. Supply you with any information. I just wish this had never happened," he added when asked for a message for Markle and Prince Harry.

In their Oprah interview, Markle cleared the air regarding several rumors and reports, including one that claimed she made sister-in-law Kate Middleton cry during the preparations for her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.

Markle said "the reverse happened" and that everyone in the palace knew the truth, but no one stepped up to correct the inaccurate reports.