Prince Harry is currently in the UK for a legal case and from the moment he was spotted in London, royalists couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d organise a visit with his father, King Charles, and/or his brother, Prince William.
However, it looks like any sort of catch-up is definitely not on the cards as Harry has, once again, taken aim at the royal family with his testimony.
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For context, Harry, along with a multitude of prominent figures like Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost and Doreen Lawrence, are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher behind The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
The claimants allege that ANL have hacked and recorded private phone calls, hired private investigators (PIs) to place listening devices in cars and homes, paid off “corrupt” police officers and PIs for sensitive information and used impersonations and manipulations to obtain medical information, bank statements and credit histories.
Harry made a witness statement to London’s High Court on Tuesday, March 28 – day two of the case’s preliminary hearing – and in it, Harry made scathing comments about the royal family; similar to comments he previously made in his Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan.
“Following the death of my mother in 1997 when I was 12 years old and her treatment at the hands of the press, I have always had an uneasy relationship with the press,” Harry said.
“However, as a member of the Institution, the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain.’ There was no alternative; I was conditioned to accept it. For the most part, I accepted the interest in my performing my public functions.”
But Harry went on to say that he began to question this policy after he began dating his now-wife, Meghan Markle. He also became “increasingly troubled” by the Palace’s “approach of not taking action against the press in the wake of vicious, persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist, articles concerning Meghan.”
Harry then made reference to another lawsuit he’s involved in – Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher behind The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun, for alleged phone hacking – in his witness statement, while simultaneously claiming that the royal family ‘withheld information’ from him.
“The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN’s phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation,” Harry said.
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“It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom.”
“There was never any centralised discussion between us about who had brought claims as each office in the Institution is siloed. There is this misconception that we are all in constant communication with one another but that is not true,” he continued.
Harry finished his testimony by saying that he hopes this case against ANL exposes the publisher’s alleged “criminality” to the British public.
“I am bringing this claim because I love my country and I remain deeply concerned by the unchecked power, influence and criminality of Associated,” he said.
“The evidence I have seen shows that Associated’s journalists are criminals with journalistic powers which should concern every single one of us. The British public deserve to know the full extent of this cover up and I feel it is my duty to expose it.”
This preliminary hearing will continue for two more days and arguments from both sides will be presented. After this time, a judge will rule whether the case should go to trial. ANL has denied all of the allegations made against them and has argued that the case should be thrown out.
