Prince Harry became visibly emotional on Wednesday as he testified in London’s High Court about the effects of what he called intrusive news coverage on his life and that of his wife, Meghan Markle.
Harry was giving evidence in his case against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the British tabloids The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. He and six other high-profile figures, including Elton John, have accused the company of phone hacking, obtaining personal records through deception and other forms of unlawful information gathering.
Associated Newspapers has denied all the accusations, saying its articles about Harry were the result of legitimate journalistic work and the prince’s “leaky” social circles.
Harry said in court that his yearslong legal battle with the company had been a “horrible experience.”
“They continue coming after me; they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery,” he said, his voice cracking.
The articles at the center of the case, published between 2001 and 2013, reported intimate details of Harry’s romantic relationships, his social activities and his feelings about his mother’s death. He said reading them had been a “recurring traumatic experience.”
He accused the news media of “commercializing” his life since his childhood and “delving into every single aspect of my private life.”
Harry is the first well-known figure in the case to give evidence in the trial, which is scheduled to last more than two months.
In a written witness statement filed with the court, Harry said that the death of his mother, Princess Diana, while being chased by paparazzi in 1997 meant he had always had an “uneasy relationship” with the press, but that he was “conditioned to accept” constant coverage because of his role.
He said that the royal family had a policy of “never complain, never explain” over inaccurate and invasive articles which he became “increasingly troubled by” after his relationship with Ms. Markle began.
Harry accused Associated Newspapers journalists, and private investigators acting on their behalf, of hacking his voice mail messages, tapping landline phone calls, “blagging” records — getting them through deception — and obtaining phone bills and private flight information. “Whenever I got on a plane, or in a car, I always expected I was being followed,” he said. “I was under 24-hour surveillance.”
The issue for the High Court to decide is whether — on the “balance of probabilities” — the specific articles in question were the product of unlawful information gathering.
In written arguments presented to the court, lawyers representing Associated Newspapers said that the social circles around Harry and the other claimants “were ‘leaky’” and that their friends and associates “did regularly provide information to the press.”
The company’s lawyer Anthony White repeatedly asked Harry on Wednesday if it was possible that his associates had communicated with journalists at parties and other social occasions. Mr. White said the newspapers had obtained information from legitimate sources and reporting practices.
Harry denied that his friends were the source of the articles and accused journalists of “making up quotes to create a narrative and disguise the true source of information.”
He challenged the basis of Mr. White’s questions during a series of tense exchanges and was gently reprimanded by Judge Matthew Nicklin for “arguing the case” rather than answering questions in his role as a witness.
“You tend to argue back to the barrister about what he is putting to you,” Judge Nicklin said. “Your role is simply to answer the questions as best as you can.”
The judge said the evidence that Harry contested would be examined at a later stage of the trial, during questioning of witnesses including the journalists who wrote the articles and private investigators who worked for Associated Newspapers.
Harry’s claim relates to 14 articles published in The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, which he argues were the product of unlawful information gathering. One, published in July 2006 under the headline “LET HER REST IN PEACE,” contained details of what the prince said were “confidential discussions” with his brother, Prince William, about the publication of a photograph of their dying mother in the Italian media.
Another article, published earlier that year, revealed details about Harry’s relationship with his girlfriend then, Chelsy Davy, and her feelings about his joining the British Army. The prince argued that those details, including that he had called Ms. Davy “from a shop when choosing a costume outfit” could have come only from phone tapping. In his written statement, Harry said the article put “massive strain” on their relationship and created “paranoia and distrust.”
The case is one of several legal battles that Harry has pursued since 2020, when he and his wife stepped down from their royal roles and left Britain.
The owners of The Daily Mirror, another tabloid, settled a claim over phone hacking in February 2024. Last January Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers agreed to pay “substantial” damages to Harry and admitted for the first time to unlawful activities by private investigators working for The Sun.
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