The statement said
the couple were "a few months into a relationship" and it was "not
right" that Ms Markle should be subjected to such treatment.
It said the prince rarely took formal action over "fictional stories".
"But the past week has seen a line crossed," it added.
In
recent days a number of newspapers have carried front page stories
about the 35-year-old actress, best known for playing Rachel Zane in the
TV drama Suits.
The
statement issued by the prince's communications secretary said: "His
girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and
harassment.
"Some of this has been very public - 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.
"Some of it has been hidden from the public
- 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."
The 32-year-old prince has long had an uneasy relationship with the
press, having grown up aware of the impact that intense media intrusion
had on the life of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
When he was 20, he was caught up in a scuffle with a paparazzi photographer outside a London nightclub.
In
2012, naked photographs of him in a Las Vegas hotel room were published
online and on newspaper front pages, prompting a complaint to the Press
Complaints Commission.
But he has also attracted positive coverage of his charitable interests and military service.
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