Per Prince Harry, the actions of Piers Morgan and other journalists who are accused of listening in on his mother Princess Diana’s private messages make him “physically sick.”
He also enters into politics by asserting that he thinks the British Government has reached “rock bottom” in his explosive written testimony for his High Court trial.
With his attendance in London for a trial against the Mirror newspaper group, the Duke of Sussex has made legal history by becoming the first British royal to testify in court in 130 years.
In his written submission to the court, he details a life spent in the glare of tabloids and filled with paranoia over whether he could trust his friends, family or other people he was meeting.
Harry writes: ‘Every time I was getting off a plane or jumping in a car, I was looking in the rear-view mirror so to speak.
‘I came to expect to be followed and papped by someone hiding in a bush somewhere. Everything felt as though I was under 24-hour surveillance.’
Describing the process of the tabloid press reacting to a new member of the Royal Family, he writes: ‘You start off as a blank canvas while they work out what kind of person you are and what kind of problems and temptations you might have.
‘They then start to edge you towards playing the role or roles that suit them best and which sells as many newspapers as possible, especially if you are the “spare” to the “heir”.
‘You’re then either the “playboy prince”, the “failure”, the “drop out” or, in my case, the “thicko”, the “cheat”, the “underage drinker”, the “irresponsible drug taker”, the list goes on.’
Piers Morgan and the Press
The written evidence describes a series of newspaper stories published by newspapers in the Mirror group that the Duke believes could not have been written without the use of unlawful methods of information-gathering.
Claiming both he and Princess Diana were affected by the alleged activity, he says: ‘[T]he thought of Piers Morgan and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages […] makes me feel physically sick and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr Morgan, accountable for their vile and entirely unjustified behaviour.’
Later, he writes: ‘Unfortunately, as a consequence of me bringing my Mirror Group claim, both myself and my wife have been subjected to a barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation from Piers Morgan.’
The former Daily Mirror editor dramatically left Good Morning Britain after saying he did not believe Harry’s wife Meghan, when she spoke about the toll that being a working member of the Royal Family had taken on her mental health.
The written statement also makes reference to Harry’s friendship with the late TV presenter Caroline Flack, with him saying he was ‘shocked’ and ‘livid’ when photographers turned up to take pictures of the pair together ahead of a dinner party in 2009.
James Hewitt and Princess Diana
In another section, he wonders about the motives of the press in writing about a supposed plot to steal his DNA to determine whether James Hewitt, rather than King Charles, was his real father.
He says: ‘Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public so I might be ousted from the Royal Family?’
The Duke says he only realised the timeline of Diana’s relationship in 2014, writing: ‘At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn’t actually aware that my mother hadn’t met Major Hewitt until after I was born.’
He adds: ‘At the time, when I was 18 years old and had lost my mother just six years earlier, stories such as this felt very damaging and very real to me.’
British Government
Harry also makes an extraordinary comment on the current state of British politics, writing: ‘[A]t the moment, our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government – both of which I believe are at rock bottom.’
He continues: ‘Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo.’
A spokesman for the prime minister declined to comment on a ‘live legal case’, adding: ‘I think you have heard repeatedly from the prime minister on the state of the country and his priorities, but I am not going to get drawn into commenting specifically on that.’
Andrew Green KC, the lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), asked Harry in court about part of his statement in which he states: ‘How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness.’
Mr Green asked if the Duke meant ‘blood on their hands’ in relation to a specific article, and further asked him what he meant by it.
Harry said: ‘Some of the editors and journalists that are responsible for causing a lot of pain, upset and in some cases, speaking personally, death.’
His historic testimony was originally due to take place yesterday, but the Duke’s barrister David Sherborne explained he was unable to turn up due to a late flight back from the US.
Mr Sherborne said the Duke flew to England on Sunday night as he had spent the day celebrating his daughter Lilibet’s second birthday.
The judge hearing the case, Mr Justice Fancourt, said he was ‘a little surprised’ and was visibly frustrated by the no-show, according to The Telegraph.
Mr Green said he had planned to question the Duke for a day and a half but that may not be possible due to his absence on Monday.
Harry is suing MGN for damages, claiming journalists at its titles were linked to methods including phone hacking, ‘blagging’ or gaining information by deception, and the use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
He is one of four claimants in the trial.
Mr Sherborne spent the day in court yesterday describing the extent to which his client’s personal life was allegedly invaded by journalists from MGN titles.
He said the suggestion there was only one example of unlawful information gathering was ‘plainly implausible’, and highlighted some of the 33 newspaper articles that form the Duke’s claim.
Many of the stories relate to Harry’s love life, particularly his on-off relationship with Chelsea Davy between 2004 and 2010.
Mr Sherborne argued Harry was ‘little more than a child’ when the stories about him and Chelsea were at their peak, adding: ‘It was as if they were never alone.’
However, Mr Green responded by saying the Duke’s legal team were not able to establish that MGN journalists hacked its client’s phone.
He said: ‘There is simply no evidence capable of supporting the finding that the Duke of Sussex was hacked, still less on a habitual basis.’
Describing Harry’s case as ‘fantastical’, he argued that there is no data demonstrating his phone had been called for hacking, and that police have never suggested Harry was a victim of hacking despite investigating the Mirror group.