Hugh Grant defends Prince Harry, says tabloids 'effectively murdered' Princess Diana
Hugh Grant is backing up a fellow famous Brit: Prince Harry.
The actor, 59, defended the Duke of Sussex when asked about his feelings on "Megxit" during an appearance on Andy Cohen’s Sirius XM show “Radio Andy."
Harry and wife Duchess Meghan announced last week that they are stepping back from their roles as senior members of the British royal family, causing a frenzy over the unprecedented move. Instead, the couple want to build new roles with more freedom and far from the media crowd in Britain.
“I’m rather on Harry’s side, I have to say,” Grant said in the interview. “The tabloid press effectively murdered his mother, now they’re tearing his wife to pieces. I think, as a man, it's his job to protect his family. So, I'm with him."
Harry has also compared the media treatment of Meghan to that of his late mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while evading paparazzi. The driver was speeding, and his blood alcohol level was determined to be more than three times France's legal limit.
Grant's critique of the tabloid press didn't stop there, either, adding that he has a "very poor" relationship with them himself. He called The Daily Mail out by name.
"I think there was an international survey ... people who look into press freedom around the world and press standards, and they said, The Daily Mail and The Mail Online website is the second-least-reliable source in the world," he said. "And when they say in those articles, "a close friends says" or "a palace insider," there's no such person. They're entirely invented."
On Thursday, Harry appeared for a major Rugby League event at Buckingham Palace, marking perhaps his last hurrah, at least for a while.
He is due to depart soon for Canada to rejoin his wife and their 8-month-old baby, Archie, in the officially undisclosed location where they are holed up preparing to take on their new semi-working royal roles.
On Tuesday, paparazzi pictures of Meghan preparing to depart British Columbia's Vancouver Island (they spent their Christmas vacation on the island in a borrowed waterfront mansion) on a seaplane were published in the Daily Mail.
And she made an unannounced visit to a women's center in the city of Vancouver. Smiling photos of her surrounded by women were posted on the Facebook page of Downtown Eastside's Women's Centre.
Prince William and Duchess Kate also returned to royal business Wednesday, traveling to Bradford, a racially and culturally diverse city in northern England, to visit people and projects promoting social cohesion.
Contributing: Maria Puente
Back to work: Harry shares Invictus news; Meghan visits women's center; Will & Kate step out
More: Duchess Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, could testify against her in lawsuit, documents suggest
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle have Hugh Grant's support; star rips media
