Prince Harry talks origin of 'Megxit,' hate tweets about Meghan Markle

Prince Harry talked about his and Meghan Markle's royal exit, dubbed "Megxit," during a panel discussion about misinformation in the media on Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex participated in Wired magazine's "RE: WIRED" virtual summit in New York, where he described misinformation as a "global humanitarian crisis." He said the term "Megxit," which is used to refer to his and the duchess' decision to step back as working royals in January 2020, originated from a troll.

"The term 'Megxit' was or is a misogynistic term that was created by a troll, amplified by world correspondents, and it grew and grew and grew onto mainstream media. But it began with a troll," the 37-year old said during the "Internet Lie Machine" panel discussion.

Speaking alongside Renée DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory and Rashad Robinson of Color of Change, the Duke of Sussex also shared his personal experience of being a victim of misinformation in the media. He admitted that he "felt it personally over the years." Now he is "watching it happen globally affecting everyone, not just America, literally everyone around the world."

Prince Harry then referenced the tabloid stories told about his mother, the late Princess Diana, and about his wife, Meghan Markle. He said he "learned from a very early age that the incentives of publishing are not necessarily aligned with the incentives of truth."

He added, "They successfully turned fact-based news into opinion-based gossip with devastating consequences. I know this story all too well. I lost my mother to this self-manufactured rabidness, and obviously, I'm determined not to lose the mother of my children to the same thing."

In the same panel discussion, the Duke of Sussex also referenced a recent finding that nearly 70 percent of the hate tweets on his wife traced back to "fewer than 50 accounts." He accused tabloid journalists of "amplifying the hate and the lies," and said they "regurgitate these lies as truth."

Prince Harry spoke about the harmful effects of misinformation in the media on the same day that Meghan Markle joined the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York to warn people against reading tabloids for their own mental health. She suggested that tabloids should come with a "warning label like cigarettes."