Meghan Markle suffered the miscarriage in 2020. (Reuters File photo)
Prince Harry has said that the leaking of a private letter his wife Meghan Markle wrote to her father caused her devastating miscarriage in 2020. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the claim during the second volume of their Netflix docuseries 'Harry & Meghan', which released on Thursday. On his new life in the United States, Harry said he missed "the weird family gatherings", the UK and his friends. But despite losing some friends as a result of his move, he insisted he had done the right thing, as there was "no other option".
Speaking about the incident, the couple's lawyer Jenny Afia said that she was aware of the "toll it was taking" on Meghan to take legal action against the publishers of British tabloid Daily Mail for publishing the letter she wrote to Thomas Markle, according to a report in People.
The lawyer added that Meghan was pregnant yet not sleeping as a result of the pressure she felt as the couple moved into their new home in California, the outlet further said.
"The first morning that we woke up in our new home is when I miscarried," said Meghan, as reported by People.
"I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did," added Harry. "I watched the whole thing."
Harry also blamed heir-to-throne William's office for being behind negative coverage of the couple, which he suggested was because they were "stealing the limelight" from other senior royals.
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He criticised "constant briefings" by palace media teams pitting one member of the family against another in collusion with the media.
"It's a dirty game. There is leaking but there is also planting of stories," he said. "The offices end up working against each other.
"William and I both saw what happened in our dad's office and we made an agreement that we'd never let that happen to our office. To see my brother's office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never, ever do, that was heartbreaking," said Prince Harry.
So far, the palace has declined to respond to the programme.
Netflix said last week's episodes recorded 81.55 million viewing hours globally -- "the highest view hours of any documentary title in a premiere week".
But it appears to have dented the couple's popularity in the UK, with one poll suggesting it had worsened their already negative approval ratings with the British public.