Britain's Prince Harry on Wednesday issued an impassioned statement in defence of his wife, Meghan Markle, as he accused sections of the media of waging a ruthless campaign against her.
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, accuses the so-called "press pack" of vilifying his former actress wife daily for the past nine months and compared it with the treatment of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
Princess Diana had died aged 36 in 1997 after her car crashed in Paris while being pursued by paparazzi.
"Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son (Archie)," he said in a statement.
"I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces...I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long. To stand back and do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in," he added.
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The statement came as the royal household launched a legal action against the publication of a handwritten letter by Markle to her estranged father in one of the British tabloids.
In reference to the action, he said: "This particular legal action hinges on one incident in a long and disturbing pattern of behaviour by British tabloid media. The contents of a private letter were published unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question.
"In addition to their unlawful publication of this private document, they purposely misled you by strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year."
In the lengthy intervention, it is clear the sixth in line to the British throne feel extremely strongly over the matter as he declares that he feels the only thing for him to do is to "stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives".
The announcement of the legal action came while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still in Africa with their baby son Archie.
Harry referenced the royal tour to highlight that all the positive coverage of their high-profile visit exposed the "double standards" of a particular section of the British media.
When Harry, 35, was first dating Meghan Markle, 38, he had issued a similar but lower key plea for "racist and sexist" online trolls to leave her alone as he accused both mainstream and social media of "crossing a line".
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