Every time the royal family has pursued legal action

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex aren’t the first royals to pursue legal action against the media.

Prince Harry has announced that he and Meghan Markle will take legal action against British tabloid the Daily Mail over its publication of a private letter by Meghan.

The couple allege the letter was selectively edited to hide “lies” reported about her and published illegally.

“Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences — a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son,” Harry wrote in a statement on the royal family’s official website.

The royal couple is suing Associated Newspapers — the parent company of Mail on Sunday — over the misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the UK’s Data Protection Act 2018.

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The royals have a history of pursuing legal action against the press.

The Prince referenced the relentless press coverage of his late mother, Princess Diana, and said his “deepest fear is history repeating itself”, highlighting this isn’t the first time the royals have taken legal action against the media.

The family has sued the press several times since the 1980s when the Queen accepted an out-of-court settlement in 1983 over revelations about the actor Koo Stark — Prince Andrew’s girlfriend at the time.

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In 1987, after publishing a letter from the Queen to Prince Philip — about Prince Edward’s decision to leave the Royal Marines — The Sun made a payment to charity and apologised to the Queen.

In 1988, The Sun settled out of court after publishing a stolen photograph of the royal family that was to be used on a Christmas card from the Queen.

Princess Diana was subject to intense media scrutiny — and sought legal action — over the course of her life.

That same year, Diana, Princess of Wales, sought to bring a breach of confidence against the Sunday Mirror after it published photographs of her exercising in a gym. The case was settled out of court.

In 1993, the Queen again sued The Sun, this time for breach of copyright after the tabloid published a leaked copy of her Christmas broadcast. The paper settled and paid £200,000 to charity.

In 1995, Prince Charles won a court order banning his former Highgrove housekeeper, Wendy Berry, from publishing her book in England and Scotland.

In 2003, the Queen won a permanent injunction against the Daily Mirror, stopping it from publishing more details about reporter Ryan Parry’s work at Buckingham Palace.

In 2006, Prince Charles filed a court case against the Mail on Sunday after excerpts of his personal journals were published, revealing his opinions on matters such as the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

In a move mirrored by Prince Harry in 2016, Prince William, along with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cambridge’s lawyers, threatened legal action when the media attention around the Duchess increased in 2007.

The Duchess of Cambridge has taken legal action against the media several times.

In 2010, photographic agency Rex Features publicly apologised and agreed to pay damages to Kate Middleton for invading her privacy. The Duchess of Cambridge complained through her solicitors after a photographer took pictures of her on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day during a private holiday in Cornwall.

In 2012, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge filed a criminal complaint against the French edition of Closer after it published topless images of Kate Middleton sunbathing while on holiday in southern France. The court handed a fine of 45,000 euros ($A73,290) to both Laurence Pieau, an editor of the magazine, and Ernesto Mauri, the magazine’s owner, in 2017.

This year the Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a paparazzi news agency to the High Court in May after aerial photos were taken of the couple’s Cotswolds home. The Sussexes were awarded substantial damages and a public apology.

After rumours circulated about Prince William having an affair with a friend of the Duchess of Cambridge’s earlier this year, they also reportedly considered taking legal action.