Prince Harry is determined to protect his wife Meghan Markle from growing media scrutiny.
“He sees the pain of his wife and the attacks she faces, and he wants to try to sort it out,” a source close to the British royal household told People magazine.
The 35-year-old, who recently announced he was taking legal action against the British tabloids, also spoke out about how the negative press attention hurt their family for the new ITV documentary “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey,” which debuted in the UK on Sunday.
A friend of Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana of Wales, told the outlet his distrust of the media stems back to her death in 1997 at age 36 from injuries she sustained in a car crash.
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During her lifetime, Diana was ruthlessly hounded by the paparazzi.
“There is an element of [the press] being ingrained as the enemy,” said the pal. “He is trying to protect [his family]. He is doing what he can.”
In the documentary, Harry told British journalist Tom Bradby that Diana was on his mind while embarking on his royal tour of southern Africa alongside Markle, 38, and their son Archie.
“Look, part of this job and part of any job, like anybody, means putting on a brave face and turning a cheek to a lot of the stuff,” he explained. “But again, for me and for my wife, of course, there’s a lot of stuff that hurts — especially when the majority of it is untrue.”
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“But all we need to do is focus on being real, focus on being the people we are and standing up for what we believe in,” continued Harry. “I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mom.”
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Markle also told Bradby she hopes the public will one day just focus on the positive: the love the couple has for each other.
“I would hope that people, the world, will get to the point where they just see us as a couple who’s in love because I don’t wake up every day and identify as being anything other than who I’ve always been,” said the former “Suits” star.”
“It’s just, I’m Meghan and I’ve married this incredible man and this to me is just part of our love story,” she noted.
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In the documentary, Bradby asked the Duchess of Sussex how she’s coping with the lack of privacy and ruthless tabloid rumors as a new parent, to which the former American actress replied she takes “each day as it comes.”
“I think the grass is always greener,” said Markle. “You have no idea. It’s really hard to understand what it’s like. I know what it seems like it should be, but it’s a very different thing.”
Markle said she and Harry have had conversations about being in the spotlight and all the negativity that comes with it.
“I have said for a long time to H, that’s what I call him, ‘It’s not enough to just survive something,’” said Markle. "'That’s not the point of life. You have to thrive. You have got to feel happy.’ I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a ‘stiff upper life.’ I really tried, but I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”
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The royal went on to tell Bradby she would be more understanding about the scrutiny if it were fair.
“I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair,” said Markle. “And that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile.”
Fox News’ Mariah Haas contributed to this report.