I like hearing about Prince Harry's love life, but there's no excuse for the way Meghan Markle has been treated

I like royal gossip and am a fan of the sparkly Markle – but no love of tittle-tattle justifies making people’s lives a misery

Prince Harry said he feared his girlfriend Meghan Markle's safety was being put at risk by press intrusion into her life (Getty)

I know it’s not fashionable, but I’m a huge royalist. I’ve been one for years. Not because of any intelligent reason – political, economic, or otherwise – but because they’re fun. My favourite is Prince Harry. He’s the boy our nation needs: a lovable, handsome, royal charmer. And it genuinely pains me when he comes under attack.

Which he has been, time and time again, all because he wants to find himself a girlfriend.

Like a worm under the microscope, he’s been prodded and poked about, unable to move without someone taking notes. In May, he complained about the “incessant” intrusion into his personal life as a plea to the press to pipe down. Later, his brother and the Duchess of Cambridge also released a statement to ask the papers to give Prince George and Princess Charlotte some space. But nothing has hit home. In recent weeks the press has upped the ante on our Harry after it was discovered he’d been dating Hollywood actress Meghan Markle.

So dire is the relationship between Harry and the press that Kensington Palace has issued a statement condemning racist and sexist harassment of Markle. “The past week has seen a line crossed,” it read. “Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her.”

The endless onslaught against Markle is the stuff of nightmares that would see even the most high-profile actress run for the hills. The ability of newspapers to creep into every part of her existence has been quite astonishing, many of whom have been intrigued by the fact she is mixed race, divorced and much older than her predecessors. The scrutiny she faces must make the red carpet look like a lovely big duvet.

Such incessant character examination goes with the territory these days for royals, and their other halves – particularly if they are beautiful women. Friends and partners of the royals are treated as the world’s prostitutes, as if their actions are meant to service us all. Harry’s past girlfriends couldn’t stomach it. Indeed, I saw first-hand the sort of experience a royal girlfriend gets treated to when Chelsy Davy was at the same university as I was. I remember how the photographers chased her around campus even though her relationship with the prince had ended at this point.

Years later, the press have intensified their curiosity over Harry’s romantic activities, now that he is 32 and has not found “the one”. Though they are determined to sabotage his efforts. Which seems to me a false economy, for they are denying themselves the later, greater joy of a royal wedding.

I’ll confess that is what I want. I like royal gossip and am a fan of the sparkly Markle. But no love of tittle-tattle justifies making people’s lives a misery.

Unfortunately we know it will go on and on, despite of Kensington Palace’s latest intervention. It is one of the most emotionally underpinned warnings the royal family has ever released, and seethes with exasperation and anguish. It is a little reminder to the world that everyone, even royals, are human too.

We’ve all got needs, prince or not – let our own desire for gossip not take precedence over two people who just want to be in love. Least of all, because we may end up with none.