Prince William has released a statement denying he disapproved of his brother’s public plea for the media to leave his new girlfriend alone.

Prince Harry released a harshly-worded statement earlier in Novermber in which he accused journalists of “racial undertones”, and of subjecting his new partner Meghan Markle’s mother to “a wave of abuse and harassment”.

After the Daily Mail reported Prince William was unhappy with his “hot headed” brother going public with his concerns, the Duke of Cambridge took the rare step of issuing a statement on the very personal matter.

“The Duke of Cambridge absolutely understands the situation concerning privacy and supports the need for Prince Harry to support those closest to him,” a royal representative told US Weekly.

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It is unusual for Prince William – often the victim of the royal rumour mill in the past himself – to give credence to such a report.

The Prince remained silent throughout years of speculation over his relationship with now-wife Kate Middleton, including multiple false engagement reports.

However, he did release a statement denying he was dating friend and family acquaintance, Jecca Craig, in 2003.

In 2015, Prince William and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge demanded paparazzi stop secretly photographing their son George for the safety of everyone involved.

“The worry is that it will not always be possible to quickly distinguish between someone taking photos and someone intending to do more immediate harm,” the statement warned.

Prince Harry’s statement regarding part-African American actress Megan Markle asked the media to scale back its hunt for information before “more damage [was] done”.

“Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her,” it read.

“It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm.”

Markle, 35, is best-known for her role in the television legal drama, Suits.