Prince Harry breaks silence on Diddy connection, says 'revenge' article by a newspaper took toll on him, Meghan Markle

In 2024, UK's The Sun published a front-page article claiming that Prince Harry was dragged into a Diddy lawsuit. As Diddy now faces trial in the US for sex trafficking, racketeering, among other charges, Prince Harry, who is also a US resident now, broke his silence over the issue, accusing the newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch, of extracting revenge for the phone hacking case.

Explained: Prince Harry's connection with Diddy, Rupert Murdoch

Prince Harry had a long legal battle against Rupert Murdoch's media company News Group Newspapers, as the ex-royal accused UK tabloids of spying on him, tracking his phone. The long battle concluded this year with Harry receiving an unconditional apology from the group along with an undisclosed but substantial amount of damages paid to Harry.

In their apology, the group admitted that The Sun hgired private investigators and spied on Harry from 1996 to 2011. They also accepted and apologized for doing the same with Princess Diana. Some of the tabloids that deployed those means are now defunct.

In 2024, before this settlement was reached, The Sun said Harry was named in a $30 million US lawsuit which said Diddy used Harry's name to give his sex-trafficking parties legitimacy. The lawsuit was filed by a record producer, Rodney Jones, who said those who affiliated with Diddy's sex trafficking parties or sponsored them were given access to celebrities such as "British royal Prince Harry". The lawsuit did not state whether Prince Harry had any knowledge of the allegations, but his name was used as an example of a celebrity.

But now Harry has reacted to it and said it was a revenge that The Sun took on him that had a hugely negative impact on his mental health and that of his wife and children.

The claim added that the “repeated attacks on his credibility and integrity…[have] also put such a strain on his relationship with the royal family that he was forced to leave the institution and relocate to North America, leaving behind all that he knew and held dear.”

Does Prince Harry know Diddy?

According to information publicly available, Prince Harry met Combs only once and never attended any of his parties or concerts. In 2007, Prince Harry posed for photographs with Prince William, Combs and Kanye West after the two rappers had performed at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London.