Prince Harry just dropped his brother Prince William into the spotlight amid his own ongoing fight with the media.
The Duke of Sussex has just alleged in his court documents submitted in his case against the News Group Newspapers that a “secret agreement” between the Palace and the publishers was struck sometime before 2012.
Harry has alleged that this secret deal meant the princes would delay legal proceedings against the newspaper group in exchange for a later apology (a claim publishers deny).
The royal also suggested that the publishers did not respect this agreement when he sought an apology in 2017 – a move which led to his current legal battle against them.
He also suggested that William was paid a “very large sum” by the owners of The Sun to settle historical phone-hacking claims in 2020.
The Royal Family’s relationship with the press is long and convoluted – but as it is drawing particular attention right now, here’s what you need to know.
1. The royals were stung repeatedly in the 80s and 90s
While media coverage has always been a part of life within the monarchy – in recent history anyway – the line between the Royal Family and celebrity status became especially blurry when Harry and William were children.
Not only was almost every moment in their parents’ failing marriage catalogued and then shared in the media, but – especially in the 90s – the royals themselves were regularly blindsided when details of their relatives’ lives were splashed on front pages.
That includes the revelation of “tampongate” – the infamous, intimate phone call between Charles and his current wife Camilla first revealed in the tabloids in 1993. Both were both married to other people at the time.
Sarah Ferguson, then the estranged wife to Prince Andrew, was caught up in another scandal in 1992 when the tabloids printed a front page photo of the Duchess of York getting her toes sucked by a billionaire from Texas.
Meanwhile, Princess Diana was regularly splashed on the front pages, and her every move documented as she was especially popular with readers – while the news that three of the late Queen’s four children were divorcing also contributed to general intrigue in the Royal Family.
2. Royals have had preventative deals with the media before
Understandably, the Royal Family then tried to cast a bit more of a net over the next generation throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
When William went to St Andrews University, the Palace struck a deal with the media to ensure that he was able to have a private time there.
Similarly, when Harry went to fight in Afghanistan on the frontline, the Palace set up a deal so that his exact location would not be known – a move which was also paramount to his safety as a soldier.
But during his first tour, this media blackout was then breached by an Australian outlet – meaning the royal had to return back to the UK, cutting his time in the war zone short.
Harry has also since alleged that the Palace had another preventative system in place where it would offer up stories of other royals to protect potential scoops about those higher up in the hierarchy.
As he said in his Netflix series, Harry & Meghan: “You know there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories... It’s a dirty game.”
He also said that he and William previously swore they would never run their press offices like that – but suggested his brother had since breached their promise.
3. Royals have publicly called for the press to back off before
Harry and William have always appeared particularly wary of the press, especially compared to the previous generations of the Royal Family.
While there’s an argument that they need the media to stay relevant and elevate their status (especially for William as he remains a working royal), both have publicly drawn a line in the sand when it comes to press intrusion around their own girlfriends in the past.
In January 2007, William said the press should “stop” harassing then-girlfriend Kate Middleton, adding: “The situation is proving unbearable for all those concerned.”
He also stepped in when a French magazine published topless photos of the now-Princess of Wales back in 2012, adding: “The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales.”
Harry first issued a public statement calling for privacy around Meghan, his now wife, in 2016, saying she was subject to a “wave of abuse and harassment”.
The Duke of Sussex has also made his opposition to the press’s coverage of his family very clear over the last few years, by mentioning it repeatedly when he spoke to the media on his own terms. This included interviews on his Netflix’s documentary series and in his book, Spare.
4. Both Harry and William have resented the press for a long time
Both of the princes have spoken out about how they have struggled with being in the media spotlight ever since they were young. A particularly harrowing moment for them came when they had to walk behind their mother’s coffin, in public, during her funeral in 1997.
Harry said in 2017: “My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television. I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
William, meanwhile, has always been much more tight-lipped, but seemed to show how much he resented the press back in 2021 after the BBC came under scrutiny over the Martin Bashir interview with Diana back in 1995, which he said established a “false narrative”.
5. Now, there’s a split in response
No longer bound by Palace structure or tradition, Harry has made it clear that he will not be accepting any behaviour from the media which he deems across the line.
William, on the other hand, appears less resistant (at least publicly).
Despite Harry’s recent allegations against him – including the claim William initiated a physical altercation between them years ago – the Prince of Wales has not said anything in public.
Similarly, judging from the Palace’s silence after Harry aired his grievances against the royal family, King Charles is also keen on staying quiet where possible. It looks like he is toeing the line more like his mother the late Queen did – “never explain, never complain”.
And, as Harry wrote in Spare, his father supposedly called his legal battle against newspaper publishers a “suicide mission”.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex is in the middle of three major legal battles against tabloid newspapers about unlawful information gathering, the other cases against the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail groups.