Piers Morgan criticises Prince Harry for comparing Meghan Markle to Princess Diana in ‘over the top’ statement as couple sue newspaper after ‘painful attacks’ – The Sun

PIERS Morgan has criticised Prince Harry for comparing Meghan Markle to Princess Diana in an emotional statement announcing legal action against the Mail on Sunday.

Prince Harry yesterday revealed his wife Meghan is launching legal action after the newspaper published a letter from her to her father Thomas Markle.

In an unprecedented statement revealing the move, Harry claimed the couple were suffering "relentless propaganda".

Referencing press coverage of his mother Princess Diana, the Duke said his "deepest fear is history repeating itself".

But Good Morning Britain host Piers, who was editor of the Daily Mirror at the time of Diana's death in 1997, criticised the couple for the "emotional" statement and said it was a "mistake" for Harry to compare Meghan to his mother.

He said: "I think comparing Meghan to Diana is a mistake.

"Harry talks about Diana and, of course everyone knows the history there and of course everybody felt for him, but he's not the only person who's lost a parent.

"If he's going to be this viscous about the press collectively he's got to be entitled to be scrutinised for what he's actually saying."

Of course everybody felt for him, but he's not the only person who's lost a parent.

"Let's be quite clear, Princess Diana was killed by a speeding drunk driver, she wasn't killed by the British press.

"I was a newspaper editor at the time and I feel quite strongly about this… this idea that the press were all personally culpable for what happened to her.

"I knew Diana well, I did lots of stuff with Diana, she colluded with the press very regularly, she set up photo situations with the press, she jumped into cars with reporters and gave them her version of stories many, many times.

"Diana was absolutely playing with the press and then ranting against the press.

"He (Harry) has just gone completely rogue, it's highly emotional, highly over the top and I think it's going to backfire."

COUPLE 'ACTING LIKE HOLLYWOOD STARS'

Piers went on to claim the couple were acting like 'Hollywood stars' in releasing the statement.

He said: "This is the kind of statement you would expect from a Hollywood star. The kind of very emotional, anti-press tirade… you don't expect it from a member of the Royal Family.

"I don't think this is the real Harry, I think he is being goaded into this by Meghan, who wants to be seeing only good press about herself. It's not the way it works.

"He doesn't want freedom of the press. He wants the press to be what he wants it to be."

After being criticised by viewers on Twitter this morning, Morgan responded that he had lost his own father as a child.

Harry released the explosive statement on the couple's personal website last night.

He said: "I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person.

“I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Harry said he and Meghan believed in “media freedom and objective, truthful reporting” as a “cornerstone of democracy”.

But he added: “Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences – a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.

“There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face – as so many of you can relate to – I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been.

“Because in today’s digital age, press fabrications are repurposed as truth across the globe. One day’s coverage is no longer tomorrow’s chip-paper.”

There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face.

Harry, who is represented by high-powered London legal firm Harbottle & Lewis who have made several complaints to newspapers on his behalf, also claimed the couple had been unable to correct “continual misrepresentations” in the press.

He also even questioned the positive newspaper coverage the couple have enjoyed during their current Southern African tour.

The Duke and Duchess have been pictured every day since last week attending a series of events to highlight good causes close to their hearts.

Each visit has been crafted by a team of public relations experts to help improve their image.

That included Harry’s visit to land mine fields in Angola – just like Diana did in the 1990s and a rare public appearance by their baby son Archie.

'DOUBLE STANDARDS'

But the Prince claimed this “positive” coverage of himself and Meghan on the tour exposed “the double standards” of the press.

He added: “She is the same woman she was a year ago on our wedding day, just as she is the same woman you’ve seen on this Africa tour.

“I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long. To stand back and do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in.”

Meghan started the costly legal action against the Mail on Sunday newspaper over an allegation it “unlawfully” published a letter from her to her father Thomas Markle earlier this year.

The Duchess insists the letter – which detailed her pain at their estrangement since the Wedding – was private.

Law firm Schillings, representing the Duchess, said she had filed a High Court claim against the paper and its parent company Associated Newspapers over the alleged misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The legal proceedings in the Chancery Division of the High Court are being privately funded by Harry and Meghan.

Depending on the court ruling, proceeds from any damages will be donated to an anti-bullying charity.

“The positive coverage of this last week in Africa is richly deserved. This feels to me like an over-emotional and somewhat ill- advised outburst.”

A Mail on Sunday spokesman said: "The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously.

"Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess’s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning."

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