Royal Family Deletes Prince Harry’s 2016 Statement That Left the King Furious Back Then

As the royal family organizes its archives, it seems that Prince Harry's impactful 2016 statement confirming his relationship with Meghan Markle and standing against racist abuse directed at her is no longer accessible on the royal family website.

Reports indicate that while the November 8, 2016 statement can still be located through the royal domain's search engine, the link to access the statement directly appears broken, as noted by several media outlets. 

"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," the message read.

"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 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," it continued as reported by IGV Official. 

The deleted statement added, "Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm."

It concluded, "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."

During the period when rumors about a romance between Harry and Markle sparked a barrage of negative media coverage against the Suits actress, Jason Knauf, the Kensington communications secretary who represented Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton, issued a notable statement in her defense.

The controversial statement read, "Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed – so will he be dropping by for tea?" In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry recounted that the statement caused King Charles and his older brother William to feel deeply upset, as it highlighted a perceived discrepancy in their support for their respective spouses, thereby tarnishing their public image as reported by E! Online.

Harry revealed in his memoir that he felt supporting the love of his life and wife, Markle was important. Thus stood firm for the official statement back then. "We needed a statement out there—within a day we had a draft. Strong, precise, angry, honest," the former Duke of Sussex recalled in the book where he detailed the incident.