Prince Harry blames tabloid media coverage for Meghan Markle's miscarriage

In the sixth and final episode of their Netflix documentary, Prince Harry says Meghan Markle suffered a miscarriage because of “what the [Daily] Mail did” to her.

A man in a suit and a woman in a black dress stand side by side.

The final three episodes of the six-part Netflix docuseries have detailed the events which led them to move to the United States and step away from royal life. Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry believes his wife, Meghan Markle, suffered a miscarriage in 2020 because of the undue stress caused by media coverage.

In the final three episodes of the couple's six-part Netflix docuseries which aired on Thursday night, the couple lifted the lid on the events which led them to move to the United States and step away from royal life.

In the last episode of Harry & Meghan, the pair reflected on the loss of their second child, a topic Markle previously disclosed in an essay for The New York Times in 2020.

“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second,” she wrote at the time.
A man and woman hugging.
In the last instalment of Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry blames the British tabloid press for his wife's miscarriage. Credit: Netflix
In the series, the Duchess of Sussex described the days leading up to her miscarriage.

“I was pregnant. I really wasn’t sleeping and the first morning that we woke up in our new home (in Los Angeles) is when I miscarried,” she said.

Prince Harry believes stress caused by British newspaper the Daily Mail's coverage of Meghan's personal life led to the miscarriage.

“I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the (Daily) Mail did. I watched the whole thing,” he said.

At the time, Meghan was involved in a lawsuit with Associated Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Mail, after the newspaper published parts of a highly personal letter from Meghan to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
The Netflix series also revealed that the letter to her father was written on advice from Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.

Meghan went on to win the lawsuit in 2021.

Prince Harry continued: "Now do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was caused by that? Of course we don't.

"But bearing in mind the stress that that caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say from what I saw that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her."

Meghan also shared why she decided to go public with the miscarriage.

"I could make the choice and never talk about those things or I could make the choice to say: 'With all the bad that comes with this, the good is being able to help other people.' That's the point of life right? Connection and community like that," she said.

Before the miscarriage, Harry and Meghan had sent a letter to the tabloid newspapers at the centre of their angst - the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Mirror and the Express.

In the letter, the couple said they believe free press “is a cornerstone to any democracy” but said, “there is a real human cost” to the way the tabloids operate.

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3 min read
Published 16 December 2022 11:02am
By Michelle Elias
Source: SBS

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