Tearful Prince Harry says media attacks have made Meghan’s life ‘an absolute misery’
An emotional Prince Harry choked up in court, referring to media attacks on his wife Meghan Markle, claiming: “They have made my wife’s life a complete misery, My Lord.”
During the two-and-a-half hours he spent in the witness box on Wednesday, the third day of his trial against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), he said it was “disgusting” to hear the Daily Mail publisher argue “in defence, I have no right to privacy”.
He continued to look upset as he left the courtroom and sniffled as he walked out the door.
The duke said the case against ANL, publisher of the Mail books, felt like a “repeated traumatic experience” and a “repeat of the past”, adding: “I have never believed that my life was a season open to being commercialized by these people.”
Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley are taking legal action against ANL over allegations of illegal information collection.
This includes allegations that information was obtained through illegal activities such as phone hacking, “spoofing” private records and obtaining flight details.
ANL has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and is defending the allegations.
Giving evidence, the Duke of Sussex denied using a Facebook profile under the name ‘Mr Mischief’ to contact a Mail on Sunday journalist, claiming he had “exchanged friendly messages” with him on social media.
ANL’s Antony White KC, when cross-examining the King’s youngest son, claimed the duke used the pseudonym to communicate with the paper’s then-daily editor Charlotte Griffiths via Facebook, with the barrister suggesting he had entered the duke’s “social circles”.
Mr White said Ms Griffiths claimed they met in Ibiza and socialized with Harry and his friends at a house party on the Mediterranean island in 2011.
But Harry told the court this was untrue and that he had only traveled to Ibiza with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and son Prince Archie.
He described it as Ms Griffiths’ job to get information from her friends, but said her friends were aware of this and how the information would be used.
In a cold exchange, Harry later told the Supreme Court: “My social circles were leak-proof, I want to make that absolutely clear.”
If he suspected someone, he added, “I would have to cut off contact with this person.”
In his witness statement at the hearing, Harry said he had always had a “troubled relationship” with the press since his mother’s death in 1997, adding: “But as a member of the establishment the policy was ‘never complain, never explain’.”
He added: “If you complain, in my experience, they put more pressure on you.”
The Duke claims 14 articles published by ANL between 2001 and 2013 were based on illegal information gathering and were written in a “highly intrusive and damaging manner”.
One of the stories Harry complained about concerned his “secret discussions” after a photograph of the dying Diana, Princess of Wales, was published in the Italian press; He described this article as “beyond cruel”.
In his written statement, Harry described an article published in the Daily Mail in July 2006 as “truly disgusting” and said he had private conversations with his brother, now the Prince of Wales.
Other articles were about his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy; Harry told the court he was “really worried something bad would happen” while he was in a relationship with her.
In his written statement he said: “I never suspected Chelsy of stories like this but I was one of her friends. If I had seen this story at the time I would have been very angry and angry.”
He added: “This kind of intrusion was terrifying for Chelsy: it made her feel like she was being followed and the press were out to get her, and it was terrifying for me too because there was nothing I could do to stop it and she was now in my world.
“He was ‘shaken’ and I was really paranoid about trying to protect our privacy like the article said.”
Referring to an article published in 2013, he said it was “terrifying” that the Daily Mail published details that left him facing a “lonely New Year’s Eve”. The article touched on details about his previous relationship with Cressida Bonas and his plans to visit Richard Branson’s island.
“It is a terrible existence for a young girl to be followed like this; they probably followed Cressida or leaked information about her flight and would have kept her under surveillance, as they did with my other girlfriends.”
He said: “It feels like every aspect of your life behind closed doors is on display to the world for fun, entertainment and money.”
Before his evidence to the court began, a source close to the Duke accused ANL of “playing games and pulling dirty tricks” by not informing the court that his opening statement would “take less than two hours”.
The source continued: “They feel they are giving Prince Harry less time to prepare by bringing the schedule forward 24 hours – he has been preparing for this moment for the last three years.
“We can safely say that he is ready.”
In response, an ANL spokesperson said: “Prince Harry has been in London since the weekend, ready to give evidence in this case he started three and a half years ago.
“We do not intend to elevate the other side’s briefing by making further comments.”
The hearing is expected to conclude in March and the decision will be given in writing at a later date.
