Royals 'May Be Seething but Will Not Sue' Prince Harry Over Privacy

Prince Harry's book references text messages between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton about a famous disagreement that left Meghan in tears but the royal family should not attempt to sue, a legal expert told Newsweek.

The Duchess of Sussex famously sued The Mail on Sunday for printing a private letter she sent her father and won a victory without a trial after her lawyers demonstrated—to the surprise of many journalists—just how strong U.K. laws are in relation to private correspondence.

Prince Harry's memoir gives a summary of a text message that Kate Middleton, Prince William's wife, sent Meghan about bridesmaids' dresses before the Sussexes' 2018 royal wedding.

The book reads: "The next day Meg had a text from Kate. There was a problem with the dresses for the bridesmaids, apparently. They needed altering. The dresses were French couture, hand-sewn from measurements only. So it wasn't a big shock that they might need altering."

Unlike The Mail on Sunday's story, this section of the book merely paraphrased the messages without including direct quotes.

There then follows an exchange between Meghan and Kate which some, for example Harper's Bazaar, have interpreted to be by text message though the wording of the book suggests it may have been a phone call.

Spare reads: "They set up a time to speak that afternoon. 'Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home,' Kate said." Princess Charlotte was three at the time.

"A short time later I arrived home and found Meg on the floor. Sobbing," Harry added, though he noted that at the time he felt the dispute was a simple misunderstanding.

How Royals Should Respond to Prince Harry's Book

Amber Melville-Brown, of international law firm Withers, told Newsweek: "It is highly likely that the royal family will retain its silence.

"Taking the bait and biting back may be the visceral response, but were they to seek my advice, it would be to play a slightly serpentine game of 'mind-Twister'—'Keep your heads down, hold your heads high, keep your ears to the ground, and keep your mouths shut.'

"While the Harry Show is in town, and a hot ticket at that, there is little point in adding to the audience numbers by engaging and prolonging the conversation."

The royals will have to balance what will no doubt be a strong emotional reaction to Harry's revelations with the need for reputation management.

Spare sold 1.4 million English-language copies by the end of its first day, the fastest selling non-fiction book in history, meaning the details will be read by many people.

However, Harry's reputation has taken a hit at the same time, reaching an all time low in Britain.

How British Privacy Law Applies to Spare

Melville-Brown said: "An aggrieved party hurt by disclosures of messages in the book might argue, for example, that those messages 'were private;' 'about her private and family life, not her public profile or her work;' that they disclose 'intimate thoughts and feelings;' 'personal matters, not matters of legitimate public interest;' and that accordingly, the author of those messages enjoyed 'a reasonable expectation that the contents would remain private and not be published to the world at large.'

"Would that party be successful in any complaint? Well, those words in fact are extracts from the judgment of [High Court judge] Mr. Justice Warby summarizing Megan Markle's successful complaint about the unauthorised publication of her private letter to her father by the Mail on Sunday.

"Some irony here perhaps then, that these very phrases might be applied to passages in Harry's book which appear to cite private messages exchanged between Meghan and her sister-in-law and now published to the world at large."

Melville-Brown also pointed to Harry's account of a conversation with William at their mother's graveside.

Spare quotes William as saying: "I think she's been in my life, Harold. Guiding me. Setting things up for me. I think she's helped me start a family. And I feel as though she's helping you now too."

Melville-Brown said: "What more 'private,' 'personal' revelation, what more 'intimate thoughts and feelings' could one disclose to a sibling, and in such intimate circumstances? Surely not expecting them to be published to the world at large?

"It's certainly arguable that those disclosures are interesting to the public—the millions who have already bought Harry's book attest to that.

"But whether it was in the public interest justifiably to disclose seemingly private and confidential communications is a matter over which the parties and courts would likely need to wrangle over months of long drawn out, public court proceedings as in Meghan's case—which is another reason why feelings of outrage will unlikely result in anyone speaking out, and why they may be seething but will not sue."