Royal Family Website Deletes Prince Harry's Statement On Meghan Markle Romance

Prince Harry's statement confirming his relationship with Meghan Markle has been deleted from the royal family's website. The statement was released in 2016 by Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf when the Duke of Sussex condemned the "wave of abuse and harassment" experienced by Ms Markle after their romance became public. However, the statement remained on the website for seven years but the link is no longer active, as per a report in Newsweek.

The outlet said that the statement which was against the British press, stopped being accessible sometime in early December. The last time a working version of it was successfully captured by the internet archive Wayback Machine was on December 3, 2023. On December 10, a further effort to archive the page was not successful, indicating that it had been removed at some point in between.

Prince Harry's spokesperson said in the statement, "His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public - the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments."

"Some of it has been hidden from the public - the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life," the statement added.

It also said that Prince Harry was "worried about Ms Markle's safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her."

The spokesperson, "It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm. He knows commentators will say this is 'the price she has to pay' and that 'this is all part of the game.' He strongly disagrees. This is not a game - it is her life and his."

In his 2023 memoir "Spare," Prince Harry stated that even though he was told not to discuss his relationship, he did so out of concern for Ms Markle's safety. He claimed that even after the statement was made public, the "onslaught continued" against Ms Markle.

He wrote, "By the time she landed at Heathrow my statement was everywhere. And changing nothing. The onslaught continued. In fact, my statement generated a whole new onslaught-from my family. Pa and Willy were furious. They gave me an earful. My statement made them look bad, they both said. 'Why in hell?' Because they'd never put out a statement for their girlfriends or wives when they were being harassed."