Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly plagued with fears for their privacy after a palace aide contacted The Mail on Sunday to offer potential evidence against the couple in the legal battle between the ex-royals and Associated Newspapers Limited.
As was previously covered by The Inquisitr , Ted Verity, the editor for The Mail on Sunday, submitted a document in last week’s trial that claimed that he had a “high grade” palace source who could testify that Meghan had not been truthful in some of her statements made to the court. According to The Sun , this turn of events has caused the Sussexes to “panic” about other potential leaks.
Harry and Meghan “are more concerned than ever about protecting their privacy,” the source said.
“They’re going through the list of people in their inner circle with a fine-tooth comb, and anyone who enters their world is thoroughly vetted.”
Over the past few weeks, the duke and duchess have been on a hiring spree , taking on a number of new employees, including Silicon Valley stars Christine Schirmer as head of communications and Toya Holness as press secretary. This brings the total number of people working on PR on behalf of the couple to around a dozen.
However, the source said that even the most prestigious employees will be facing scrutiny.
“In essence, it’s them clamping down on leaks of any kind. They have a zero-tolerance policy,” the insider concluded.
The couple has also reportedly begun to put as little as possible in writing and have been talking with friends about the need for discretion. Meghan has already taken steps to cool her friendship with former best friend Jessica Mulroney after the Canadian socialite appeared to be using the ex-royal’s name for publicity.
The focus on privacy comes as the pair have kept a low profile since their move from the United Kingdom to Santa Barbara, California. In fact, neighbor Rob Lowe even called the ex-royal “reclusive” during an appearance on the Late Late Show with James Corden .
“He’s been very reclusive,” the former West Wing actor confessed, per People .
“Seeing him in the neighborhood is like seeing the Loch Ness Monster, and I finally saw him,” Lowe added.
Their low profile has also included the decision to step back from social media after Harry and Meghan shut down their “Sussex Royal” Instagram account when they stepped down from royal duties in March 2020.
Though it had been reported earlier this month that the pair had decided to quit social media for good, the redheaded prince recently stated in an article published in Fast Company that this was not the case.