Prince Harry has rejected a suggestion he wants to be a phone-hacking victim and raised concerns about the level of detail in an article about his visit to a strip club, a court heard on Wednesday.
The denial came as the Duke during his second and final day of evidence as part of his case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over alleged unlawful information gathering (UIG).
Towards the end of his evidence, Harry appeared to cry as he talked about the experience of giving evidence for a day and a half, saying: “It’s a lot.”
At one point, a lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) accused Harry of wanting to be a phone-hacking victim and asked if he would be disappointed if he wasn’t, to which Harry responded: “Nobody wants to be phone hacked.”
Harry also said an article about a trip to Spearmint Rhino strip club in 2006 – headlined ‘Chel shocked’ -contained “precise” information about a conversation with then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy. He also said an article in 2008 concerning his withdrawal from Afghanistan was likely to have been sourced from UIG and impacted his mental health.
Recap of Prince Harry’s Emotional Testimony
MGN began Harry’s witness box appearance yesterday by apologising for an article published in 2004 about his visit to a London nightclub that it accepts was the product of unlawful information gathering. MGN denies all other wrongdoing.
Prince Harry fought back the tears while addressing the strain of media intrusion as he ended his historic High Court testimony in the phone hacking case he said he had launched to protect his wife, Meghan.
The Duke of Sussex is among a host of celebrities seeking to sue Mirror Group Newspapers for damages, claiming journalists at its titles were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
In nearly eight hours of cross-examination by MGN’s barrister, Harry accused former Mirror editor Piers Morgan of “horrific personal attacks and intimidation” and suggested newspaper stories claiming his father was Princess Diana’s former lover aimed to oust him from the royal family.
As subsequent questioning by his lawyer began, the Duke defended the lack of call data between himself and MGN journalists, claiming they may have used “burner phones” to access his voicemails.
Duke’s Struggle in Court
Prince Harry has rejected a suggestion he wants to have been a phone-hacking victim as he appeared in the court on a second day of evidence in his case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over alleged unlawful information gathering.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, raised concerns about the level of detail in an article about his visit to a strip club, a court heard on Wednesday.
At the end of the cross-examination, Meghan Markle’s husband, Harry, appeared to choke back tears as the Duke talked about the experience of giving evidence for a day and a half, saying: “It’s a lot.”
At one point, a lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) accused Harry of wanting to be a phone-hacking victim and asked if he would be disappointed if he wasn’t, to which Harry responded: “Nobody wants to be phone hacked.”
Harry also said an article about a trip to Spearmint Rhino strip club in 2006 – headlined ‘Chel shocked’ -contained “precise” information about a conversation with then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
He also said an article in 2008 concerning his withdrawal from Afghanistan was likely to have been sourced from unlawful information gathering and that it had impacted his mental health.
The Duke of Sussex has been forced to admit his Spare memoir has contradicted claims made in the High Court during his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
A Day of Deep Emotion
The Duke told the High Court he couldn’t remember whether he wanted to meet his mother’s former butler Paul Burrell, despite his opposition causing a rift with his brother, the Prince of Wales.
On Monday, Harry’s barrister, David Sherborne, said the article showed how “seeds of discord” had been created between the brothers, as he claimed unlawful information gathering by tabloid newspapers played a part in the deterioration of their relationship.
The 2003 article in the People newspapers claimed the brothers disagreed over whether to meet Mr Burrell, with William wanting to in an attempt to prevent him from selling other stories, while Harry was against it because he was a “two-faced s— “.
But when the Duke was questioned on Tuesday about the report, it was pointed out to him that his apparent opposition was not included in his memoir. “There is no suggestion in Spare that you were firmly against a meeting,” said Mr Green.
