Prince Harry has revealed that he won't take Meghan Markle back to Britain amid claims that the country's hostile tabloids could influence an "acid" attack on the duchess.
The prince opened up in detail about his relationship with the British press in an interview for the documentary special Tabloids on Trial, which aired on Britain's ITV network on Thursday.
In it, the prince said that it would only take "one lone person" to act on tabloid-influenced hostility toward his wife for there to be catastrophic consequences.
The show featured interviews with notable British personalities who have sued news outlets in the country over allegations of unlawful information gathering, such as phone hacking, bugging and wiretapping.
Harry has sued the three biggest tabloid publishers in Britain since 2019, having partially won and settled his lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers (publishers of the Daily Mirror) in the past year, something he called a "monumental victory."
Despite this, he feels that what he considers to be continued attacks from the press, coupled with the U.K. government's decision to withdraw his full-time state-funded police team when he stepped down as a working royal, make his home country too dangerous for his family to visit.
"All it takes is one lone actor, one lone person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read, and whether it's a knife or acid or whatever it is, these are things that are a genuine concern for me," he told journalist Rebecca Barry.
"It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."
This is not the first time that the prince has expressed he feels unsafe taking his family to Britain. In 2022 his legal team said as much in a hearing connected with his legal battle against the U.K. government to reinstate his full-time state-funded security.
Harry's documentary comment is the first time that he has stated that he is actively keeping his wife from visiting his home country, a sentiment that can reasonably be extended to include his two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The last time Meghan was known to be in Britain was in September 2022.
Despite Harry's concerns about security, the couple planned three European visits that year, the first in April to attend the Invictus Games in the Netherlands with a private visit to Windsor Castle on the way from California. The second in June with their children to attend events connected with Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, and the third without their children in September to undertake a series of charity appearances.
During their September visit, Queen Elizabeth died, and they extended their stay to attend her state funeral.
When visiting the country, Harry and Meghan are not totally without police protection.
The government committee who oversees royalty and VIP security has implemented a special bespoke service for the prince. This means that when he does go to Britain, they assess his protection needs on a case-by-case basis. Factors that will be considered are whether the prince is attending any official functions such as a royal ceremony or celebration, and whether there were any threats intercepted by the intelligence services.
This system, Harry feels, is inadequate, believing that whether he stepped down as a "working royal" or not, the threat level he faces—that he possessed since birth—is unchanged. He is currently taking his lawsuit against the government to have his state-funded bodyguards reinstated to the U.K. Court of Appeal.
Since September 2022, Harry has visited Britain a number of times but all without Meghan. Notably, this included a trip in May 2023 when he attended King Charles III's coronation.
At the time, Meghan was accused by British commentators and social media users of snubbing the country and royal ceremony despite continuing to appear content to use royal titles. The revelation that Harry is actively encouraging his wife to stay away from the country presents a new aspect to this discourse.
Newsweek approached representatives of Prince Harry via email for comment.
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