Meghan And Harry's Attorney Reveals A Surprising Claim About Their Royal Media Feud

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exited the royal family in early 2020, they were at the end of their tether with the British press. And the famous couple opened up about intense press intrusion and scrutiny during their ground-breaking chat with Oprah Winfrey. In fact, Harry admitted one of the main reasons he gave up being a full-time royal was out of fear of "history repeating itself" (via Sky News). The Duke of Sussex was, of course, referring to his late mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash while fleeing the paparazzi. Although it was an extremely difficult decision for the couple, Harry admitted, "I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side." 

The Duke elaborated, "I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her [Diana] going through this process by herself all those years ago, because it's been unbelievably tough for the two of us. But at least we have each other." As Winfrey pointed out, the Sussexes were in what they felt was an "un-survivable" situation, thanks to near-constant negative attention from the British tabloids — with both racist and sexist stories aimed at Meghan. Most people assumed she and Harry defected the royal family to live a more private life, which has led commentators such as Piers Morgan to relentlessly criticize the Sussexes for being hypocritical. However, an insider claims they were misrepresented from the beginning.

While appearing in BBC documentary "The Princes and the Press," lawyer Jenny Afia, who represents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, clarified that the ongoing discussion over whether they genuinely desire privacy has no merit. 

Per Express, Afia explained, "It's not them that say they want privacy. It's something that the tabloids have said about them that has latched on." Rather, as Afia noted, the Sussexes "have taken steps when there have been blatant violations, unlawful violations of privacy." Further, the lawyer pointed out that just because Meghan and Harry have created boundaries, based on what is and isn't okay to share with the world, doesn't mean they're going to disappear from public view. "That's not how privacy works," Afia stated firmly. "Privacy is about the right to own and control what personal information you choose to share with somebody." 

Critics like Piers Morgan took issue with the couple leaving the royal family, ostensibly because of press intrusion, only to later sign lucrative deals with the likes of Netflix and Spotify. In fact, "The Princes and the Press" included a clip of Morgan railing against them on "Good Morning Britain" — the show from which he was fired after refusing to apologize for incendiary comments made live on air about the duchess. "Remember they quit the country for privacy [but] God we've hardly heard them shut up ever since," Morgan argued. 

And, in a rare move, the royal family released a statement condemning the new documentary — so that's what they think about that.