Prince Harry appeared visibly emotional while providing evidence at the High Court in London during a legal dispute involving the Daily Mail's publisher, Associated Newspapers. The 41-year-old Duke of Sussex told the court that the Daily Mail had severely troubled his wife Meghan's quality of life, describing it as making her existence "an absolute misery." This testimony was part of a broader privacy lawsuit brought by Prince Harry and six other claimants, including singer Elton John, against Associated Newspapers for alleged breaches of privacy spanning from the early 1990s up to the 2010s.
Associated Newspapers, which also oversees the Mail on Sunday, has dismissed these accusations as "preposterous smears," defending its journalists' reliance on legitimate sources such as friends and acquaintances of the involved celebrities. In 2023, Prince Harry became the first member of the British royal family in 130 years to provide court testimony in a media-related lawsuit, highlighting the seriousness of the dispute against the press.
During questioning led by Associated’s barrister Antony White, Prince Harry maintained a combative stance but became visibly emotional when recounting the ongoing impacts of the litigation. He indicated that treatment by the publisher had deteriorated following his filing of the suit in 2022. "I think it is fundamentally wrong to have to put all of us through this again when all we were asking for is an apology and some accountability," said Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles. "It is a horrible experience and the worst of it is that by sitting up here and taking a stand against them ... they continue to come after me." He added with evident distress, "They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery." Now residing in California with Meghan, Prince Harry's testimony lasted just under two hours.
In a concluding exchange, Prince Harry’s legal representative David Sherborne questioned him on his reaction to the defence presented by Associated. He described the experience as "a repeat of a past, a recurring traumatic experience," condemning the publisher's claims that he had no entitlement to privacy as "disgusting." He rejected suggestions that he was friendly with members of the press or part of a "leaky" social circle. "For the avoidance of doubt, I am not friends with any of these journalists and I never have been," he stated firmly, at times disengaging from White's probing.
The crux of Prince Harry’s case involves 14 published articles which his legal team asserts were produced through unlawful methods, including voicemail hacking, telephone bugging, and deceitful acquisition of personal data known as "blagging." In response, White argued the information had been legally obtained and referenced a former royal editor of the Mail on Sunday, Katie Nicholl, as an associate of Prince Harry's social group. Countering this, Prince Harry questioned why private investigators, linked to illicit information-gathering practices, were involved if journalistic sources were as reliable as claimed.
Prince Harry described his interactions with reporters as an attempt at civility but felt overwhelmed by their exploitation of his private life for commercial gain. This lawsuit, launched in 2022, marks the first occasion that Associated’s publications have been formally implicated in the longstanding phone-hacking controversies troubling the British media.
Other plaintiffs alongside Prince Harry include Elton John’s husband David Furnish, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, anti-racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence, and former lawmaker Simon Hughes. Elizabeth Hurley is anticipated to deliver testimony on the following day of the trial.
Prince Harry, who has long held the press responsible for the tragic 1997 car accident in Paris that claimed his mother Princess Diana’s life, views this trial as the final phase of his campaign against tabloid intrusion. Last year, he secured an apology from Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper division as part of his ongoing confrontation with media outlets.
In his witness statement, Prince Harry expressed grave concern over the ramifications should a powerful newspaper entity evade justice, stating that "in my opinion the whole country is doomed." Emphasizing the public nature of his lawsuit, he declared, "When you’re up against such a behemoth and intimidating media organisation, the courts are your last and only hope." This sentiment reflects the broader implications of media accountability and privacy protections in the UK legal landscape.