Harry and Meghan’s legal fight over ‘drone pictures of Archie’

THE DUKE and Duchess of Sussex have launched legal action in Los Angeles after drones were allegedly used to take pictures of their 14-month-old son Archie.

A complaint filed at Los Angeles County Superior Court claims an unnamed individual photographed Archie at their home.

Harry and Meghan, inset with their son, claim the pictures invaded their privacy.

The lawsuit also alleges the couple have been hounded across North America by paparazzi and targeted with incessant intrusions.

They said they lived “unmolested” in North Saanich, Canada, for six weeks before the media published their location, leading to “up to 40 paparazzi and media organisations descending on this peaceful community from hundreds of miles away”.

Their move to Los Angeles earlier this year to the “gated community at the generosity of a friend” – thought to be entertainment tycoon Tyler Perry – was similarly exposed, the couple said, resulting in further distress. Drones have been flown 20 feet above the Sussexes’ house as often as three times a day, according to the lawsuit, while some of the pictures of Archie have been sold. Helicopters have also flown over the residence as early as 5.30am and as late as 7pm, the legal papers say, “waking neighbours and their son”.

Holes were also cut into a security fence by photographers, the lawsuit states. The case was prompted by “the relentless and quite frankly shocking efforts of the tabloid media to profit from serial intrusions” on Archie’s privacy, the lawsuit states.

The former royal couple say they want to protect themselves from the “feeding frenzy”.

The pictures of Archie were allegedly wrongly captioned by the photographer, who claimed they were taken on a recent trip to Malibu.

But the couple said: “Archie has not been in public, let alone in Malibu, since the family arrived here.”

The lawsuit cites California’s privacy laws, which make photographing or filming anyone in their homes by use of drone or telephoto lens illegal.

Because Harry and Meghan do not know who took the pictures, the lawsuit targets unnamed defendants.