Magazine held liable by APC for headline declaring end of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's marriage

Australian magazine 'Woman's Day' has been held accountable for a breach of standards by the Australian Press Council (APC) for a cover story which claimed that the British royal family has confirmed the end of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's marriage.

An issue of the magazine published in May last year read on its cover: "Palace confirms the marriage is over! Why Harry was left with no choice but to end it".

The Woman's Day article had used several anonymous sources to allege that the former actress had an "online relationship" with British singer Matt Cardle, and also accused the duchess of Sussex of being absent from royal duties, reports The Guardian.

The article also quoted a source who said "until now Harry has been giving Meghan the benefit of the doubt", but he's only willing to take so much and it's reached the stage where enough is truly enough."

The APC noted that the story was a breach of standards, even though gossip magazines are not held to the same factual standards as other media, because of its inaccurate headline which wasn't backed up by the article.

The press watchdog found that the magazine, published by Bauer Media had crossed a line, even allowing for the latitude given for factual exaggeration and inaccuracies in publications of this kind.

"While an entertainment publication can be expected to use some exaggeration, the headline was expressed as an unqualified fact that the palace had confirmed the marriage was over," the council noted.

"The council considers that the statement in the headline was such that it was more than just an exaggeration, and that it was misleading," the self-regulatory body added.

In its defence, the publication argued that magazines trading in gossip and celebrities had readers who understood it was "light entertainment" and it would be "unreasonable to hold such publications to a standard similar to that of other news media."

"Readers should expect a level of exaggeration and a complaint could be made about almost every gossip magazine," it said. Meanwhile, the publisher told the press council that the article had not been corrected as neither the royal family nor the royal couple had complained about it.

Though the press council acknowledged that celebrity and gossip magazines are purchased for light entertainment, it said the headline made a statement that was "blatantly incorrect." The magazine had to publish the adjudication in print and online on Monday.