How Pro-Russia Hackers Caused A Shutdown Of The Royal Family Website

The British royal family recently saw their official website overwhelmed with a denial-of-service attack. Per reports, the website experienced a downtime of over one hour due to the attack, which was claimed to have been perpetrated by a pro-Russian group.

Previously, the site was updated to remove references that referred to Prince Harry as "His Royal Highness" and was replaced with the Duke of Sussex. Harry and the royal family are still feuding following his decision to resign from his royal duties in 2020 alongside his wife, Meghan Markle.

According to People magazine, the official website of the British royal family experienced a cyberattack, resulting in a downtime of over one hour.

The website is a central hub for information about the British royal family and its activities, making it accessible to the public and those interested in royal affairs. Some of the information on it includes news and updates about royal engagements, official statements, biographies, and profiles of royal family members.

Per multiple sources, the pro-Russia hacktivist group Killnet allegedly hacked the platform on Sunday through a denial of service (DoS) attack. The group has previously been associated with DoS attacks targeted at nations supporting Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion.

Regarding the attack, a source reported no access to the palace systems or content. In the meantime, The Firm has yet to make any official comments on the incident.

The attack on the website comes a month after Prince Harry's page was updated to exclude references to his "His Royal Highness" title.

The references in question were related to the former senior royal's work on HIV/AIDS awareness in 2016.

"The Royal Family website contains over five thousand pages of information about the life and work of the Royal Family," read an official statement from the palace, as reported by Express.

Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, content has been revisited and updated periodically. Some content may be out of date until this process is complete."

Harry is now referred to as the Duke or the Duke of Sussex on the platform, while his wife, Meghan Markle, retains the female version. Meanwhile, their kids, Archie and Lilibet, are now being addressed as Prince and Princess, as effected in March earlier this year.

The changes add strength to recent speculation that the senior royals, particularly King Charles, are not invested in healing their rift with Harry.

Their relationship is claimed to be "firmly rooted at rock bottom," and it is not considered a "top priority" to get it back on track, per Irish Mirror.

A source said, "The Harry issue doesn't have to be sorted out immediately, but will be sorted out eventually. Charles loves Harry, but his priority is to fulfill his duty as King and not let his mother down. That means constitutional considerations have to come first."

Another source had a different opinion, saying that the King being on "bad terms with his son" is "unsustainable."

They said: "It's not sustainable for the King, who is the national symbol of unity, to be on such bad terms with his son that they haven't been pictured together in years. Ultimately, Charles has not just a personal but also a strategic need to resolve the issue."

Prince Harry's troubles with the royal family began in 2020 when he and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced they would be stepping back from their royal duties and moving across the continent to America.

The rift reached a new high during Harry and Meghan's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. During the interview, the duo made several allegations against the royal family, including that they had been racist and that the former "Suits" actress had experienced mental health problems while she was a member.

Then, in late 2022, the Netflix bombshell series "Harry and Meghan" debuted, followed by the Duke of Sussex's memoir Spare in January of the following year. Both projects were criticized for being too harmful and damaging the royal family's reputation, which only exacerbated the rift.