‘They Have Made My Wife’s Life an Absolute Misery’: Tearful Prince Harry Testifies Against Daily Mail’s ‘Criminal’ Tactics

Prince Harry, testifying in his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail for alleged privacy violations, grew visibly emotional as he described the toll of media coverage on his family and loved ones.“They continue coming after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord,” the Duke of Sussex told London’s High Court on Wednesday, his voice cracking. The 41-year-old prince is one of several public figures, including singer Elton John and actress Liz Hurley, suing Associated Newspapers over allegedly unlawful newsgathering practices during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The trial began on Monday and is expected to take nine weeks. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleges the company hired private investigators to plant listening devices in cars and homes, hack voicemail messages, and bribe police officials for confidential information. The claimants also accuse Associated Newspapers of obtaining private medical records and flight details through impersonation, a practice known as “blagging.”Associated Newspapers has denied all allegations, dismissing the claims as “lurid” and “simply preposterous.” The publisher is expected to call current and former editors and senior journalists to the stand, including the former longtime editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre. During Wednesday’s testimony, the duke described developing an “uneasy relationship” with the press after his mother’s death in 1997. However, “as a member of the institution,” he felt pressured to uphold the royal family’s policy of “never complain, never explain,” he said in his witness statement. “There was no alternative; I was conditioned to accept it.” Prince Harry explained that he grew “increasingly troubled” by this approach after his relationship with American actress Meghan Markle became public and the press began making “vicious persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles concerning Meghan.” He claimed that “the situation got worse” when Ms. Markle became pregnant and gave birth to their first child. The duke’s case centers on 14 articles published between 2001 and 2013 that he says contained information gathered through illegal tactics. His legal team alleged the articles caused him “great distress” and served “no meritorious public interest.”“Those unlawful information gathering techniques included the hacking of my voicemails, landline tapping, blagging, obtaining itemised phone bills, hardwire tapping, and obtaining private flight information for my former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, amongst other criminal methods, all of which was deliberately undertaken with the purpose of publishing articles about me in the Defendant’s newspapers because it made them money,” Prince Harry alleged.One of the articles included in Prince Harry’s case is a piece from 2006 that he alleges contained “confidential discussions” between him and his brother regarding a photo published in the Italian press of his dying mother. In written evidence he described the article as “beyond cruel.” Other articles concern his former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, who was pursued by the media during their on-and-off relationship in the early 2000s. He said that the media “intrusion” was “terrifying” for Ms. Davy and “made her feel like she was being hunted.” He added that “it was terrifying for me too because there was nothing I could do to stop it and now she was in my world.” Prince Harry was the first claimant to take the stand. Sir Elton, Ms. Hurley, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence are also expected to give evidence during the nine-week trial. The remaining claimants include Sir Elton’s husband, David Furnish, former Member of Parliament Simon Hughes, and actress Sadie Frost.The trial marks a significant development in Prince Harry’s campaign to hold the British press accountable for privacy violations and follows his successful actions against Mirror Group Newspapers and Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers.On Wednesday, the duke said he brought the case because he was “determined to hold Associated accountable, for everyone’s sake,” arguing that his claim was “in the public’s interest.”

‘They Have Made My Wife’s Life an Absolute Misery’: Tearful Prince Harry Testifies Against Daily Mail’s ‘Criminal’ Tactics

‘They Have Made My Wife’s Life an Absolute Misery’: Tearful Prince Harry Testifies Against Daily Mail’s ‘Criminal’ Tactics

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