Tabloid spy apologises to Meghan Markle, Queen Elizabeth II over "harm' caused by privacy breach

Los Angeles-based private investigator Daniel-Portley Hanks said he was hired by tabloid publication The Sun to dig up information on Meghan Markle before she became the Duchess of Sussex.

Hanks told Byline Investigates that he obtained information through illegal means. He hacked into a restricted website and compiled a 90-page report on the duchess for the tabloid to use. This information included phone numbers of the duchess and her relatives, their social security numbers, and background checks on her past romantic relations and family members.

He made the report on Oct. 30, 2016, at the request of The Sun's U.S. editor James Beal, who was then stationed from a bureau in New York. It was during this time that reports about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship first made headlines. When the tabloid reportedly could not dig up any scandal on the former "Suits" actress, they turned to distant relatives who harbour ill feelings towards her success.

The press then glossed over the extensive report and ran stories with them using an "anonymous friend" as its source. Under orders from the tabloid, Hanks also took photos of Markle's West Hollywood home for the reporters and paparazzi to stake out. He did the same for her father, Thomas Markle.

Royal correspondent Emily Andrews wrote the first-ever story on the couple for the publication. But she denied ever knowing Hanks as she told Byline Investigates, "I have never been party to any decision to engage and/or task him. I had no knowledge of his involvement in any of the matters which you outline. To state, suggest or infer otherwise would be completely false."

Meanwhile, the retired investigator expressed his apologies to the Duchess of Sussex for the breach of privacy as he said, "I'm sorry to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for targeting her family, particularly her dad, on behalf of The Sun."

Hanks said he "never wanted to cause Meghan Markle harm, and wouldn't have done the job" if he had known that "it would lead to all these problems." He also apologised to Queen Elizabeth II for enabling the tabloid to fuel the rift between the Royal Family as he realised that "the harm" he did "has affected the whole family."