ICYMI, the November 2016 statement Prince Harry made confirming his relationship with Meghan Markle for the first time is no longer available on the British royal family’s website (FYI, you can read it in full right this way).

According to Regalrumination.com, the statement had to have been deleted between December 3 and December 10, 2023, as the archive site Wayback Machine was able to access it on the former, but not a week later on the latter. *cue le dramatic music*.

A refresher in the event you don’t remember this truly groundbreaking moment: Harry’s communications secretary Jason Knauf released a rare plea to the media and internet trolls to stop the “wave of abuse and harassment” experienced by the Duke of Sussex’s then-girlfriend in the weeks after they first began officially dating.

“Since he was young, Prince Harry has been very aware of the warmth that has been extended to him by members of the public. He feels lucky to have so many people supporting him and knows what a fortunate and privileged life he leads,” the statement initially begins.

“He is also aware that there is significant curiosity about his private life. He has never been comfortable with this, but he has tried to develop a thick skin about the level of media interest that comes with it.

 He has rarely taken formal action on the very regular publication of fictional stories that are written about him and he has worked hard to develop a professional relationship with the media, focused on his work and the issues he cares about.”

The statement then goes on to discuss the more outright ways in which Meghan was being harassed—”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”—in addition to the more insidious acts not seen outright by people—”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; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.”

“[Harry] has asked for this statement to be issued in the hopes that those in the press who have been driving this story can pause and reflect before any further damage is done. He knows that it is unusual to issue a statement like this, but hopes that fair-minded people will understand why he has felt it necessary to speak publicly,” the plea ends.

Luckily, despite the kinda news, Meghan and Harry seem to be more unified than ever. In fact, the two recently had a sweet date night together in honor of their six-year anniversary at Lucky’s, a steakhouse in the town of Montecito where they’ve lived since 2020.

For everything you need to know about the duo’s love life, head right on over this way:

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