Prince Harry says Mail publisher made his wife Meghan’s ‘life a misery’

The Duke of Sussex was visibly emotional in court on Sunday as he told his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, that her life had been made “absolute misery” by the Daily Mail and Mail publisher.

Prince Harry was speaking as he completed his evidence in his trial Many of the cases brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) in the High Court focused on articles about his relationships with Meghan before he met them.

The prince’s voice broke as he said the court battle had been a “terrible experience” for his family and that all he wanted was “an apology and some responsibility”.

He is one of seven high-profile plaintiffs accusing ANL of “serious invasions of privacy” over a 20-year period. The publisher denied wrongdoing.

The prince’s claim centers on 14 articles, many of which deal with his relationship with previous girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Witness statement said newspapers were ‘horrible’ scope of relationships it had made him “really worried something bad was going to happen”.

He said a 2006 article claiming Davy did not want the prince to join the army “put up the pressure and created huge tension” on the relationship, causing his then-girlfriend to “distrust all his friends”.

“It is not possible to maintain a relationship under these conditions,” he said.

blamed the publisher “They probably want to get me into drugs and drink to sell more of their newspaper.”

The prince also said it was “beyond cruel” to publish an article detailing “secret meetings” with his family after a photograph of his dying mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was published in the Italian press.

The prince sometimes struck a laconic tone as he answered questions from the publisher’s lawyer for more than two hours Wednesday.

Antony White KC, on behalf of the publisher, suggested that some of the journalists who wrote the articles may have been in or around the prince’s social circle.

“Good for him,” the Prince snapped during a tense exchange in which a Mail reporter suggested he might be at the same clubs as the prince.

He was interrupted multiple times by the judge, who reminded him that his “duty” was to answer questions rather than discuss his case.

When asked why he did not complain when the articles were published between 2001 and 2013, Prince Harry said he was “not allowed to complain” because he was a member of the “establishment”, meaning the Royal Family.

Later, when asked again about the same point, the duke replied: “It’s a good thing to look back, Mr White.”

After the prince appeared in court, a spokesman said cross-examination had “revealed his weakness”.

“Assertive in tone but instantly collapsing under Prince Harry’s scrutiny. Associated was eager to get him off the stand, merely questioning him for hours and avoiding 10 of his 14 articles entirely.”

The Prince added: “Today we reminded the Mail group who was on trial and why.”

The plaintiffs accused ANL of “clearly, systematically and consistently illegal information gathering”, including private detectives and bullshitters, for stories between 1993 and “beyond” 2018.

In his 23-page witness statement, the prince said he always felt “under 24-hour surveillance” but that at the time the articles were published he “knew nothing about the illegal actions of the Associated against me and those around me”.

He said the articles made him “incredibly paranoid” and made him feel like “part of an endless quest, a campaign, an obsession with having every aspect of my life under surveillance.”

Harry added that the Mail was the first outlet to publicly disclose Davy’s name and that the “intrusion” that followed was frightening for Chelsy: it made her feel like she was being hunted.

“His behavior and treatment towards Chelsy was not normal,” he said. “I was really worried something bad would happen.”

Harry told the court he did not remember reading the 2006 article about his and his brother’s reactions to the publication of a photograph of their mother taken after the fatal car crash at the time, but said the “disgusting” article made him think: “If Associated is willing to publish this kind of material then it really makes me wonder how far they are prepared to go.”

He said the information in the article suggested they were “clearly listening to our calls.”

ANL has previously denied allegations of illegal collection of information.

Joining the Duke in the lawsuit against ANL are:

• Actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost

• Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish

• Sir Simon Hughes, former Liberal Democrat MP

• Baroness Doreen Lawrence, campaigner whose son Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racist attack in south London in 1993

White said plaintiffs were “holding on to the stick” and in some cases friends and social circles of celebrities contributed as sources to Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists.

She suggested in court on Wednesday that Harry knew his social circle was “leaky”, to which the prince responded: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”