Mere days after they announced they were suing the publisher of The Daily Mail, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly suing two other tabloids. CNN reports that the royals have filed a lawsuit with The Sun and The Daily Mirror over allegations of phone hacking.
A representative for Buckingham Palace confirmed to CNN that the issue is over “the illegal interception of voicemail messages.” It is unclear which voicemails the royal couple is referencing at this time.
The news comes after Prince Harry published an impassioned open letter on his official website, stating he was suing The Mail for publishing a private letter from Meghan to her father, Thomas Markle.
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“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,” Prince Harry wrote of the alleged actions of The Mail.
This is not the first time the royal family have taken legal action with the press over allegations of phone hacking. In 2005, a story about a Prince William injury was published in now-defunct British tabloid News of the World — owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who also owns The Sun — prompting allegations from the royal family that their voicemails were being hacked. News of the World editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were convicted of conspiracy to hack into said voicemails in 2007.
Though the Press Complaints Commission found no evidence of phone hacking in 2009, a 2011 investigation by British Metropolitan Police discovered the publication was indeed engaging in the practice from 2004 to 2006. News of the World publicly apologized for the actions, and folded in July of 2011. It has compensated victims of the hacking.
Jonny Dymond, a royal correspondent for the BBC, claims that Prince Harry’s current lawsuit could stem from the scandal from the early 2000s. This would be long before he met Meghan, whom he was defending when the couple issued their lawsuit against The Mail.
Prince Harry’s issues with how the press treats the royal family can be traced back to his mother Princess Diana’s death in a car accident, after she was being pursued by paparazzi on motorcycles.
“I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person,” the royal wrote in his open letter. “I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”
Refinery29 has reached out to The Sun, The Daily Mirror, and representatives for Prince Harry and Meghan for comment.
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