LONDON — Britain’s royal family should be used to being fodder for the country’s news grinder.
After all, the British tabloids and other outlets have poked and prodded into nearly every regal recess from the marriage meltdown of Charles and Diana to their son, Prince Harry, once wearing a Nazi-style outfit for a costume party.
But now Harry says they have gone too far. In a rare salvo at reporters from the royals, Harry has strongly condemned the media for harassing his American girlfriend, Meghan Markle, in coverage that has included “racial undertones” — alluding to her racial mix of a white father and African American mother.
Harry, 32, said that he had tried to develop a “thick skin” about the level of media interest in his personal life, but that in the last week, a line had been “crossed.”
It was also the first confirmation from Kensington Palace that the prince, who is Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson and fifth in line to the throne, was dating Markle, a 35-year-old actress perhaps best known for her role in the drama “Suits.” The palace said they have been dating for “a few months.”
It’s highly unusual for the palace to issue such a blistering and candid statement like this. But since the Sunday Express’s “royal world exclusive” late last month, there has been intense speculation across Fleet Street about the relationship.
In the statement, Harry’s communications secretary, Jason Knauf, said Tuesday that there has been a “wave of abuse and harassment” that has included “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.”
He also said that some of the abuse had been hidden from public view, such as “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.”
Harry said that he is worried for his girlfriend’s safety and that he feels helpless that he can’t protect her.
“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,” the statement read. “This is not a game — it is her life and his.”
