Hugh Grant backing Prince Harry because "as a man it's his job to protect his family" has gone viral on TikTok.
The Duke of Sussex has previously said he and Meghan Markle were forced to leave Britain with their son Prince Archie because he feared "history repeating itself," an apparent reference to Princess Diana dying in a 1997 car crash as paparazzi photographers took pursuit.
Grant, star of Paddington, was asked by Andy Cohen about "Megxit" in an interview and said he was "rather on Harry's side actually."
A clip of his response went newly viral on TikTok after it was liked 15.2k times and viewed 344.6k times after it was posted with the message: "Hugh Grant set to speak with Prince Harry in an ITV documentary about the tabloid press June 25! This will be interesting ⭐️👀."
"The tabloid press effectively murdered his mother. Now they're tearing his wife to pieces," the Four Weddings and a Funeral actor said. "I think as a man it's his job to protect his family so I'm with him."
Grant was then asked whether British tabloid newspapers are reliable sources of information and replied: "The people who look into press freedom around the world and press standards, they said that The Daily Mail and the Mail Online website is the second least reliable source in the world. So the answer is no.
"So when they say in those articles 'a close friend says' or 'a palace insider' there's no such person."
The Wonka actor made his remarks during an appearance on Radio Andy on Sirius XM in January 2020, just after Harry and Meghan first announced their decision to step back from royal duties.
At the time, it was still thought they planned to live in Canada and it was not until that April that it became public knowledge they had in fact relocated to California, at that point Los Angeles.
Grant's account of the reality of tabloid sourcing does, however, strike a slightly different tone to Prince Harry's interview with Anderson Cooper promoting his book Spare three years later in January 2023.
Harry was asked why he was speaking out and replied: "Every single time I've tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife.
"You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain. But it's just a motto. And it doesn't really hold."
"They will feed or have a conversation with the correspondent," he continued. "And that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story. And at the bottom of it they will say that they've reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
"But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting. So when we're being told for the last six years, 'We can't put a statement out to protect you.' But you do it for other members of the family. It becomes... there becomes a point when silence is betrayal."
In other words, Harry is of the view that the stories about him in tabloid newspapers are lies but he appears to believe they have come from real sources at the palace.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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