Current:Home > FinancePrince Harry 'won't bring my wife back' to the UK over safety concerns due to tabloids -TradeBridge
Prince Harry 'won't bring my wife back' to the UK over safety concerns due to tabloids
View
Date:2025-04-13 10:03:12
Prince Harry has opened up about how British tabloids' incessant coverage of his life, some of which involved illegally obtained private information, has caused safety concerns for his family, including his wife, Duchess Meghan.
Speaking to ITV News correspondent Rebecca Barry in the one-hour documentary "Tabloids on Trial," which aired Thursday night in the U.K., the Duke of Sussex for the first time publicly discussed being handed a win in his phone hacking lawsuit against the Daily Mirror's publisher in December, which saw a court award him around $180,000 in damages.
Harry elaborated on his motivations for spearheading the charge against media companies such as publishers for the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Daily Mirror, which he's accused of employing illegal tactics to dig up information for tabloid scoops.
"They pushed me too far. It got to a point where you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't," he said of taking legal action against publishers. "I don't think there's anybody else in the world that is better suited and placed to be able to see this through than myself.
"It's still dangerous and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff, to act on what they have read — and whether it's a knife or acid or whatever it is ... these are things that are a genuine concern for me. It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“I'm trying to get justice for everybody," Harry said. "This is a David versus Goliath situation — the Davids are the claimants, and the Goliath is this vast media enterprise."
Prince Harry says 'it's clearly not in my interest' to sue media companies
The duke – who is King Charles' and the late Princess Diana's younger son – also shut down speculation that the lawsuits he has filed were retaliatory.
"It is clear now to everybody that the risk of taking on the press and the risk of such retaliation from them by taking these claims forward, it's clearly not in my interest to do that. Look at what has happened in the last four years to me, my, wife and my family, right?" Harry said. "So that was a very hard decision for me to make, which is: How bad is it gonna get?"
Prince Harry, who made waves by testifying in court last June during his case against Mirror Group Newspapers, is still involved in ongoing cases against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun as well as the now-shuttered News of the World, and Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail. Last year, a London High Court judge allowed the duke's lawsuit against NGN to proceed to trial.
The Sun and the Daily Mail have denied accusations of wrongdoing.
Harry claimed employees at the Murdoch-owned tabloids hacked his phone and hired investigators over a period that spanned two decades.
"If I can get to trial, then we're talking over a decade's worth of evidence, most of which has never ever been known to the public," Harry said of the NGN lawsuit. "That's the goal."
He added, "That evidence needs to come to the surface. And then after that the police can make their mind up because this country and the British public deserve better."
Why Harry, Meghan moved to California:'Toxic’ British press 'was destroying my mental health'
Fight against the tabloids is 'a central piece' to 'rift' with royal family
Harry admitted that being so vocal in his fight against British tabloids has impacted his relationship with the royal family, which includes brother Prince William, the heir to the throne.
"It's certainly a central piece to it," he said. "That's a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press."
Harry continued, "I've made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we did it as a family. I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you're in a public role that these are the things we should be doing for the greater good. But I'm doing this for my reasons."
"For me, the mission continues," he said. "But it has, yes. It's caused, as you say, part of a rift."
veryGood! (14)
Related
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- 2023 track and field world championships: Dates, times, how to watch, must-see events
- Suicide Watch Incidents in Louisiana Prisons Spike by Nearly a Third on Extreme Heat Days, a New Study Finds
- Hurricane Hilary threatens dangerous rain for Mexico’s Baja. California may get rare tropical storm
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Federal judges rule against provisions of GOP-backed voting laws in Georgia and Texas
- Unusual Pacific Storms Like Hurricane Hilary Could be a Warning for the Future
- WeWork’s future: What to know after the company sounds the alarm on its ability to stay in business
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Cyberattack keeps hospitals’ computers offline for weeks
Ranking
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Thousands flee raging wildfire, turning capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories into ghost town
- Michael Oher, Tuohy family at odds over legal petition, 'Blind Side' money: What we know
- Gary Young, original drummer for indie rock band Pavement, dead at 70: 'A rare breed'
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Utilities begin loading radioactive fuel into a second new reactor at Georgia nuclear plant
- DonorsChoose sees banner donation year with help from Gates Foundation and millions of small gifts
- Suburban Detroit police fatally shoot motorist awakened from sleep inside car
Recommendation
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
Metals, government debt, and a climate lawsuit
Trump's D.C. trial should not take place until April 2026, his lawyers argue
Largest scratch off prize winner in Massachusetts Lottery history wins $25 million
'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
The 10 best Will Ferrell movies, ranked (from 'Anchorman' to 'Barbie' and 'Strays')
Fulton County Sheriff's Office investigating threats to grand jurors who voted on Trump indictment
Trump's D.C. trial should not take place until April 2026, his lawyers argue