Prince Harry fought back tears as he gave evidence in London’s High Court on Wednesday. He told the court that the Daily Mail had made his wife, Meghan’s, life “an absolute misery” during his testimony in a privacy lawsuit.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, is one of seven claimants, including singer Elton John, suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher behind the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. The lawsuit alleges privacy violations spanning from the early 1990s to the 2010s.
Publisher rejects allegations
Associated Newspapers dismissed the claims as “preposterous smears.” The publisher said its journalists relied on legitimate sources, including friends and acquaintances of the celebrities.
“I think it is fundamentally wrong to put all of us through this again when all we were asking for is an apology and accountability,” Harry said.
Emotional testimony
Choking up, Harry added: “They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery.” He called reading Associated’s defense a “recurring traumatic experience” and said it felt like reliving past violations of his privacy.
Harry rejected claims that Mail journalists were close to his social circle.
Alleged unlawful information gathering
The lawsuit focuses on 14 articles that Harry’s legal team says were based on illegal information gathering. This includes voicemail hacking, bugging landlines, and using deception, known as “blagging,” to access private information.
White argued the information in the articles was obtained legitimately and suggested former Mail on Sunday editor Katie Nicholl was part of Harry’s social group. Harry replied: “If the sources were so good, why were private investigators involved in unlawful information gathering?”
He said he had tried to engage reporters civilly but felt forced into action as they “commercialized my private life.”
Other claimants and context
The other claimants include Elton John’s husband David Furnish, actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, anti-racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence, and former lawmaker Simon Hughes. Hurley is expected to give evidence on Thursday.
Harry has long blamed the press for the 1997 car crash that killed his mother, Princess Diana. He previously won an apology from Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm.
In his witness statement, Harry said: “If the most influential newspaper company can evade justice, the whole country is doomed.” He described the lawsuit as a “public duty,” adding: “When facing a behemoth media organization, the courts are your last and only hope.”
