Harry, who also carries the title of the Duke of Sussex, has launched a legal battle against the Daily Mirror and The Sun, accusing them of phone hacking and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, raising privacy issues.
But Lady Campbell, also a socialite, claims that Markle has pushed Harry to wage a war against the press, with her “ultimate target” being British journalist Piers Morgan, according to news website The Local Report. She also suggests that Markle gave the idea of the legal suit to Prince Harry to further their “political agenda”.
“I have been told because I have been making inquiries that Meghan is behind all of this. Remember, Piers Morgan was the editor of The Mirror for much of the period (whose reference was given in legal suits). Meghan is intent on destroying Piers Morgan,” the news website quoted her speaking out in a YouTube video.
Morgan-Markle spats
Morgan has been a critic of the duke and duchess of Sussex ever since his amicability with Markle, a former actor, ended after hit TV show ‘Suits’. Most recently, after a multi-million-dollar deal between Prince Harry and Markle’s media group and streaming giant Spotify ended, Morgan had posted a sarcastic tweet last week, saying, “This is so unfair on such a hard-working, inspiring couple who just want to spread love around & make the world a better place.”
Markle and Morgan had several heated Twitter exchanges in the past as well. In a Daily Mail article in May 2018, he criticised her, writing about her “performance at her wedding to Prince Harry”. “What’s the point in being a professional actor if you can’t turn in an Oscar-winning performance for the biggest role of your life,” Morgan had written.
‘Took Prince Harry decades to express his distress’
Lady Campbell reasons that it took Prince Harry decades to express his distress against the tabloids.
“The whole thing is bizarre … Harry is saying things that happened 30 or 20 years ago. They upset him now but didn’t at the time they happened,” Campbell exclaims.
The news website again quotes her saying, “I have been told that a part of the agenda is whether he wins or loses; in this case, they feel they will have won. Because they are creating a platform and setting themselves up as ‘champions of the underdog’, which is ludicrous.”
However, Campbell warns that Harry may be “unwittingly damaging his own reputation” by pursuing this legal battle.
What is the legal battle about?
Prince Harry’s legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, is related to a claim that the tabloid, along with others, had illegally accessed his voicemail messages. This lawsuit was part of a larger effort by numerous individuals, including celebrities, to seek justice and compensation for privacy intrusions caused by phone-hacking practices.
Earlier this month, Prince Harry became the first British royal in over a century to take the witness stand in court. Last time, it was in 1890s when future king, Edward VII, took the stand in a slander trial.
In his lengthy written witness statement, Prince Harry said the media intrusion had blighted his life, claiming the state of both the press and government was “at rock bottom”. In the witness box, after swearing an oath on the Bible, Prince Harry argued he had been a victim of relentless media intrusion virtually his entire life. He said the tabloid publishers invaded his privacy by eavesdropping on voicemails and hiring private investigators to report on the smallest details of his life.
Mirror Group has acknowledged instances when its newspapers unlawfully gathered information and apologised in court papers, saying Prince Harry and two of the other three claimants were due compensation.
In the past also, Meghan won an invasion of privacy case in 2021 against the Mail on Sunday for printing a private letter she wrote to her father. That led to a one-pound settlement for violating her privacy and an undisclosed sum for copyright infringement.