Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wrote explosive letters to 4 British tabloids cutting off all contact

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have written letters to British tabloids The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Express to let them know they will no longer engage with them, their online editions, or their Sunday editions.
• In the letters, obtained by Insider, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they no longer want to "offer themselves up as currency for an economy of clickbait and distortion."
• "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know—as well as complete strangers—have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue," the letter reads.
• The new media guidelines were announced ahead of Markle's first hearing with the Mail on Sunday, which is set to be held remotely on Friday.
• The duchess is taking legal action against the publication after it published excerpts of a private letter she wrote to her father.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have cut off all contact with British tabloids The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Express.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said that they will no longer engage with or respond to journalists from these newspapers, their online editions, or their Sunday editions, telling them they no longer wish to "offer themselves up as currency for an economy of clickbait and distortion."

In a letter written to each publication, obtained by Insider, the duke and duchess explained that the new media regulations correlate with their "step down" from royal duties.

Since the couple no longer receive public funding, they do not have to associate with publications on the royal rota — a circulation of British newspapers that report and attend royal family engagements.

"As The Duke and Duchess of Sussex now settle into the next chapter of their lives and no longer receive any publicly funded support, we are writing to set a new media relations policy, specifically as it pertains to your organisation," the letter began.

It continued: "It has been said that journalism's first obligation is to the truth. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex agree wholeheartedly.

"It is gravely concerning that an influential slice of the media, over many years, has sought to insulate themselves from taking accountability for what they say or print—even when they know it to be distorted, false, or invasive beyond reason. When power is enjoyed without responsibility, the trust we all place in this much-needed industry is degraded.

"There is a real human cost to this way of doing business and it affects every corner of society.

"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know—as well as complete strangers—have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue," they continued.

"With that said, please note that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be engaging with your outlet. There will be no corroboration and zero engagement. This is also a policy being instated for their communications team, in order to protect that team from the side of the industry that readers never see."

The duke and duchess added that "this policy is not about avoiding criticism."

"It's not about shutting down public conversation or censoring accurate reporting," they added. "Media have every right to report on and indeed have an opinion on The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, good or bad. But it can't be based on a lie."

They added that they look forward to working with "journalists and media organisations all over the world, engaging with grassroots media, regional and local media, and young, up-and-coming journalists."

The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Express did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Harry and Markle's new media regulations were announced ahead of Markle's first hearing in her legal battle against the Mail on Sunday, which is set to be held remotely on Friday.

The former actress is suing the publication over the misuse of private information, infringement of copyright, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2008 after it published excerpts from a private letter that she wrote to her father shortly after her royal wedding.

The British media has been criticized for its coverage of the duchess since even before she was a member of the royal family.

In 2016, the Duke of Sussex confirmed he was dating Markle in a statement which fired back at the press' treatment of the then-actress, calling out "the racial undertones of comment pieces."

"Some of this has been very public — the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments," he wrote.

"Some of it has been hidden from the public — the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door," he added.

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