Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made no bones about what they have called “toxicity” within the media. She spoke out specifically on that issue back in August, as Markle and Prince Harry were embroiled in a lawsuit against a Los Angeles outlet X17, which had taken unauthorized photos of the couple’s young son Archie while they were staying at a home that was owned by Tyler Perry. Now, that lawsuit has reached a conclusion, and it’s been favorable to the couple.
When it comes to the origins of the lawsuit, it was originally unclear who generated the photos and who had acquired them. In July, the famous couple ultimately filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit, which allowed them to research where the photos had come from. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s lawyer was able to look into the matter after filing subpoenas and getting to the bottom of who was responsible for the photos, which were reportedly taken by drone. Major tabloids were looked at, but as it turns out X17 was responsible for the photos.
Now, X17 has apologized to both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for bringing those paparazzi images of their son to light. Per the NY Times, the outlet has apologized to the couple and shared the official apology.
We apologize to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their son for the distress we have caused. We were wrong to offer these photographs and commit to not doing so again.
It’s not just American tabloids that have been an issue for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The two dealt with similar press while still living in the UK and as recently as this past spring had been open about coverage they felt was “distorted, false and invasive.” In addition to this current lawsuit, the couple has multiple other lawsuits in the works, including the infamous lawsuit where she sued The Mail outlet for publishing a letter she’d sent her father Thomas Markle. Splash News has also been sued over photographs from a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia.
The two also recently shifted their lives to North America, where they first stayed in Tyler Perry’s aforementioned abode before purchasing their own home in Santa Barbara, California. While in The States, Meghan Markle has done some publicity, revealing in the aforementioned previous interview with The 19th that she and Prince Harry are on the same page in regards to media intentions.
My husband and I talk about it often, this economy for attention, right? That is what is monetizable right now when you're looking at the digital space and media. And so if you're just trying to grab someone's attention and keep it you're going for something salacious versus something truthful. And I think that once we can get back to the place, which is what you're creating here, which is why I think it's so important, where people are just telling the truth and they're reporting and telling it through a compassionate or empathetic lens, it's going to help bind people as community in a way that I think [at] the moment we're feeling much more of a disconnect in a space where we could be feeling more of a connection.
Their next “move” will be in their careers, as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have worked out a contract with Netflix to deliver new programming to the masses after Markle dipped her toes back into the world of Hollywood with a Disney+ project. The deal is a multi-year deal, although the programming specifics have yet to be made public at the time of this writing.
