Prince Harry blames tabloids for Meghan Markle’s miscarriage as fans praise couple for ‘resilience’

Prince Harry has claimed his wife Meghan suffered a miscarriage “because of what the Mail did” during her lawsuit battle with its publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

The sixth and final episode of the tell-all Netflix documentary reflects on Meghan’s victory in her long-running case against ANL – publisher of the Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

The Duchess sued the publisher over five articles that reproduced parts of a “personal and private letter” to her father Thomas Markle, and she won the case last year.

Recounting the effect of the legal action, Meghan said: “I was pregnant, I really wasn’t sleeping and the first morning that we woke up in our new home is when I miscarried.”

Meghan suffered a miscarriage in the summer of 2020, a year after her first son Archie was born. She says about ANL: “Just apologise and don’t do it again, it’s really that simple – but instead it’s like ‘let’s make a fortune. Let’s create an entire tab on our home page with her name’ and just constant stuff on this litigation, twist and turn things to create an implant with members of the public.

“Then the defence says ‘we’d like disclosure from you, we need to access your email and your phone for this case based on these terms – I love you, Archie, Kate, William, Africa’ – sorry, what does that have to do with this lawsuit? Archie wasn’t even born when you guys published the letter I wrote to my dad.”

Harry added: “The press, they will never settle, they will always push because they will use a privacy litigation to further invade your privacy like they did with my wife. But my mum always said, you know, ‘if they’re writing crap about you in the tabloids then you’re probably doing the right thing’ – so I’ve always felt as though this is a fight worth fighting for.”

The Duke went on to blame the Mail Online for causing Meghan to suffer stress, which he believes is what led to her miscarriage. He adds: “I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did. I watched the whole thing. Now, do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was caused by that – course we don’t.

“But bearing in mind the stress that caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy – how many weeks in she was – I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.”

The couple have previously discussed the stress endured because of the legal battle but had not put a direct link between the two.

In the final episode, Meghan’s friend Abigail Spencer recalls the moment the Duchess collapsed while holding her son Archie as the couple were moving into their new home. She said: “I’m driving up just like ‘we’re going to unpack, we’re just getting settled’ and Meghan’s outside waiting for me and I can tell something’s off.

“She’s like showing me the new house and it’s very mixed emotions, because she’s like ‘here’s our new house’ but she’s like ‘I’m having a lot of pain’. She was holding Archie and she just fell to the ground.”

Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland also spoke out about her daughter’s miscarriage in the Netlflix documentary, hailing her as “brave and courageous”.

At this point the episode refers to the piece Meghan wrote for The New York Times with the headline “The Losses We Share”.

The Duchess tells the programme: “When I reveal things that are moments of vulnerability, when it comes to having a miscarriage and maybe having felt ashamed about that, like, it’s OK, you’re human, it’s OK to talk about that.

“And I could make the choice to never talk about those things, or I could make the choice to say with all the bad that comes with this, the good is being able to help other people. That’s the point of life, right, is connection and community like that.”

Fans praise Harry and Meghan for their ‘resilience’

The final part of the Sussexes’ controversial documentary airs on Netflix on Thursday (15 December) and includes further criticism of the royal family, including claims the Palace briefed against Harry and Meghan to deflect attention from less favourable coverage of other royals.

The royal family and Palace aides will be steeling themselves for bombshells in Volume II of the Harry and Meghan series after the royal household faced accusations it leaked negative stories as part of a “war against Meghan”.

The final three episodes explore the ‘Megxit’ crisis when Harry and Meghan move from the UK to the US and their decision to step back from royal duties in January 2020, with the Duke saying in the trailer: “There was no other option at this point…I said ‘we need to get outta here’.”

It comes after previous episodes have seen Harry accuse the royals of having a “huge level of unconscious bias” and Meghan, while Meghan claimed the media wanted to “destroy” her.

The Duke also hit out at his family members for questioning why Meghan needed more protection from the media than their wives had been given, saying they failed to grasp the “race element”.

Public reaction to the series has so far been mixed, but many have taken to social media to express support for the couple for telling their story and praising their “resilience”.

One twitter user wrote: "Did I stay up until 3AM to watch #HarryandMeghanNetflix documentary? you bet your ass I did and it was 3hrs well spent. I love Harry and Meghan! I want them to be my friends so bad. I love their beautiful life and have so much respect for their resilience. I maybe cried a little”

Another said: "Watching #MeghanandHarryNetflix and I’m 4 episodes in and I can’t for the life of me figure out whats yalls issue with Meghan is.... Like sis just wants to live and yall yelling "no ma’am""

A third wrote: "Harry and Meghan both being so respectful, praiseworthy and reverential about Charles & the Queen in episode 4. I hope the media pay attention to that. There’s no disrespect shown, it’s the exact opposite."

However, some of the reaction has been less positive, with journalist Piers Morgan branding the series as “insufferable”. He wrote: “God, their incessant whining is so insufferably exhausting."

Another user wrote: "No one on this planet is less of a victim than Meghan Markle. And few are more arrogant, deluded and self obsessed"

A third person added: "Part 2 B****cks. Good in nothing, bad in everything. Not a love story at all. Who takes the photo since the beginning ? 100% PR contract.”