As he mentioned media attacks on his wife, Meghan Markle, an emotional Prince Harry seemed to sob in court, saying, “They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.”
On the third day of his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), he spent two and a half hours on the witness stand on Wednesday. He described it as “disgusting” to hear the Daily Mail publisher assert “in their defence that I don’t have any right to privacy.”
Harry still looked upset as he left the courtroom, sniffling as he went out the door.
“I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people,” the duke said, describing the case against ANL, the publisher of the Mail titles, as a “repeat of the past” and a “recurring traumatic experience.”
Actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, politician Sir Simon Hughes, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, and others are suing ANL for allegedly collecting illegal information.
This includes allegations that information was gathered illegally using methods like travel details, “blagging” private records, and phone hacking.
ANL is contesting the allegations and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
In his testimony, the Duke of Sussex refuted claims that he “exchanged friendly messages” with a Mail on Sunday journalist via a Facebook user going by the name “Mr. Mischief.”
While cross-examining the King’s youngest son, Antony White KC of ANL said that the duke had contacted Charlotte Griffiths, the newspaper’s then-diary editor, on Facebook using the fictitious name, and the barrister implied that she was part of the duke’s “social circles.”
According to Ms. Griffiths, they met in Ibiza, where she reportedly hung out with Harry and his pals in 2011 during a house party, Mr. White said.
However, Harry claimed the court that was untrue and that he had only ever visited Ibiza with his son, Prince Archie, and wife, the Duchess of Sussex.
He explained that it was Ms. Griffiths’ responsibility to obtain information from his pals, but he also mentioned that they were aware of this and the intended use of the information.
“My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear,” Harry later told the High Court in a chilly confrontation.
“I would have to cut contact with this person,” he continued, if he started to suspect someone.
Since his mother passed away in 1997, Harry has always had a “uneasy relationship” with the media, he claimed in his trial witness testimony. “However, as a member of the institution, the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain.'”
“In my experience, they double down on you if you complain,” he continued.
According to the duke, fourteen articles published by ANL between 2001 and 2013 were written in a “highly intrusive and damaging way” and were based on illegal information collecting.
Harry complained about a number of tales, including “confidential discussions” he had following the publication of a picture of a dying Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Italian press, which he called “beyond cruel.”
Harry claimed in his written testimony that he was having private conversations with his brother, the now-Prince of Wales, and called an item that appeared in the Daily Mail in July 2006 “really disgusting.”
In other pieces, Harry talked about his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, saying in court that he was “really worried something bad was going to happen” during their relationship.
In written testimony, Harry stated: “I was suspicious of her pals, but I was never suspicious of Chelsy in relation to stories like these. I would have been furious and frustrated if I had seen this news at the time.
“This kind of intrusion was terrifying for Chelsy: it made her feel like she was being hunted and the press had caught her, and it was terrifying for me too because there was nothing I could do to stop it and now she was in my world,” he continued.
According to the article, “she was’shaken,’ and I was really paranoid about trying to protect our privacy.”
He called the Daily Mail’s 2013 piece about his having a “lonely New Year’s Eve” “creepy.” Details about his prior relationship with Cressida Bonas and her intentions to travel to Richard Branson’s island were mentioned in the story.
“A young girl being stalked like this is a terrible existence; they most likely followed Cressida or boasted about her flight and would have had her under surveillance, just like they did with my other girlfriends.”
“It feels like every part of your life behind closed doors is being displayed to the world for amusement, entertainment, and money,” he remarked.
A source close to the duke accused ANL of “game-playing and dirty tricks” by neglecting to notify the court that their opening argument would “last less than two hours” prior to the start of his testimony.
“They believe that by moving the schedule forward by 24 hours, they are giving Prince Harry less time to prepare—he’s been preparing for this moment for the last three years,” the source went on.
“It’s safe to say he’s prepared.”
“Prince Harry has been in London since the weekend ready to give evidence in this case, which he launched three-and-a-half years ago,” an ANL representative responded.
“We don’t plan to dignify this briefing by the opposing side with any additional remarks.”
The trial is scheduled to end in March, and a written judgement is due later.
