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A magazine editor has apologized to Prince Harry over articles she says were "unfair and incredibly one-sided" from "sources who weren't telling the truth."
Alice O'Connell, former editor of Women's Weekly, in New Zealand, said she was motivated to speak out after realizing Harry had included a magazine cover she had signed off on in his Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.
The headline read: "Meghan's shock past: Is Harry heading for trouble?"
She said she went into the job wanting to be kind, "but, on reflection, [the magazine] wasn't all that kind. I wasn't kind. I wasn't kind to Prince Harry, and I certainly wasn't kind to his wife, Meghan Markle."
"It's with some embarrassment that I acknowledge that there's someone who I've owed a genuine apology to for quite some time, that I've – until now – failed to say sorry to. That person is Prince Harry."
"See for four years, from 2016 – 2020 I was the editor of New Zealand Woman's Weekly (having been the assistant editor for two years before that)," she continued.
"The backbone of the Weekly was stories about the royal family – and had likely been that way for the majority of the magazine's 90-year history. Nearly every week that I worked there, they were either the main cover, or a large drop-in. They were that popular.
"But, I didn't always get it right. Particularly not when Harry and his wife Meghan were concerned. I published some stories that were unfair and incredibly one-sided – and can now see were from sources who weren't telling the truth. My biggest mistake though, was that I stopped seeing Harry as a human being."
Her comments also come after Prince Harry became the first senior royal since 1891 to testify in court during a lawsuit alleging historic phone-hacking at Mirror Group Newspapers.
The company is one of three U.K. tabloid publishers he is suing and he has argued that illegal intrusion into his private life caused him to cut off friends and become paranoid about those around him.
O'Connell wrote: "As I watch Prince Harry's court case, I feel nothing but shame, and anger. And regret. Because he's right. He's completely in the right – although, unfortunately I fear he won't have enough evidence to win.
"Now, I want to make it clear that in my former job I never had a part in anything as scandalous and low—even in the same ballpark—as phone-hacking, or underhanded measures for getting stories.
"But I was a cog in the machine—yes, a very small cog, all the way out on the other side of the globe in New Zealand, but a cog, nonetheless.
"I reprinted stories and quotes from British newspapers and magazines that, knowing what I know now, were untrue."
Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on 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.
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more