In spite of Prince Harry Moving to Southern California in 2020, he has continued a series of legal battles in the UK, aiming to improve access to security and change the culture at the nation’s tabloids. In a new interview with ITV, Harry mentioned that his fears for Meghan Markle and her safety is part of the reason he continues his legal battles, and why he has not considered returning to his homeland with his wife.
“It’s still dangerous, and it only takes one lone actor, one person reading these things to act on what they’ve read,” Harry told reporters. Rebecca Barry at a press conference for the network’s documentary Tabloids on trial. “Whether it’s knives or acid, whatever it is—and those are the things that really concern me. That’s one of the reasons why I wouldn’t bring my wife back to this country.” In 2022, the former head of counterterrorism for the Met Police said Meghan had received credible threats during her time in the country, and in January 2024, two neo-Nazi podcast hosts were sentenced to prison after one of the podcast hosts encouraged listeners to commit acts of violence against the prince and his son. Archie.
Although Harry has made several visits to London in 2024, most recently to celebrate Thanksgiving in May in honor of the Invictus Games, Meghan has not returned to the country where she lived from 2017 to 2020 since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022. The couple’s two children, Archie and Lilibet, Only visit once, on Platinum anniversary in June 2022.
Harry’s legal battle in the UK has been fought on two fronts. He has been challenging the British government’s decision to deny him access to armed security when he visits the country since 2022. Although a High Court judge dismissed his claim in a February 2024 ruling, the Court of Appeal has ruled that he has permission to appeal the decision.
Beginning in the fall of 2019, he filed lawsuits against several British publications, alleging illegal newsgathering practices. In June 2023, Harry testified on the stand for two days in a case against Mirror Group Newspapers, and last December, the High Court ruled that the paper had used illegal information in its coverage of the prince. The prince currently has ongoing lawsuits against Associated Newspapers, the parent company of Daily mail, and News Group UK, the parent company of Sun. (Both companies deny any legal wrongdoing.)
In an interview with ITV, Harry said the late Queen had supported his efforts to fight the tabloids while she was alive. “We had a lot of conversations before she died. This is something she really supported; she knew what it meant to me,” he said. “She’s been there saying, ‘Let’s get this done’, no doubt about it.”
He also stressed that his pursuit of justice had nothing to do with his father. King Charles III, and sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, both announced their cancer diagnoses earlier this year. “Those are two completely separate things,” he said. “My father, my sister-in-law, and me pursuing these legal battles are two completely different things.”
