2023-06-06 13:48:00
“Every article has caused me pain,” said the Duke of Sussex after being sworn on the Bible as a witness. Harry denounced “the invasion of the press for most” of his life and claimed to have “known the hostility of the press since (his) birth”.
This testimony from the 38-year-old prince marks the first appearance of a member of the royal family on the stand since that of the future Edward VII in 1891 for a libel trial.
Exiled to California with his wife Meghan, the youngest son of King Charles III, at odds with the rest of the British royal family, accuses the tabloid press of being responsible for the death of his mother Diana, chased by paparazzi in Paris in 1997. He also blames him for what he describes as harassment towards Meghan and for having a responsibility in the bad relations he has with his family.
He launched several legal battles. In the ongoing trial, which opened last month, Harry accuses the Daily Mirror editor of using illicit means to gather information, including hacking into voicemails, between 1996 and 2010.
“Despicable Behavior”
The prince described, in an often hesitant voice, how in every palace the newspapers were always present.
“In my experience as a member of the royal family, each of us is given a specific role by the tabloid press,” he said. Then the prince listed: “You are either the playboy prince or the failure (…) or in my case the cheater, the underage drinker, the irresponsible drug addict and the list goes on and on”.
“Looking back on it today, such behavior on their part is utterly despicable,” he added.
“How much more blood will stain their fingers before someone stops this madness?” asked Harry in his witness statement, read at the hearing, where he also denounces the links between the press and the government, both “at rock bottom”.
Prince Harry in court for historic testimony: ‘He’s taking a big risk’
Excuses du Mirror
Thirty-three contentious articles were retained by the judge in the procedure out of 147 referred to by Harry.
Harry’s lawyer claims the media group employed the services of ‘at least 30 private investigators’
Faced with these accusations, Andrew Green, the lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – which in addition to the Daily Mirror publishes Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, renewed the group’s “unreserved” apologies.
The Duke of Sussex described the impact the unlawful gathering of information had on him: “I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone, which was a terrible feeling for me.”
“On discovering the extent of illegal activities carried out by (…) MGN towards me, I am somewhat relieved to know that my paranoia towards my friends and my family was in fact misplaced”.
If MGN has recognized since the trial “some evidence” of illegal information gathering, the group highlights the age of the facts and rejects certain accusations. “There is simply no evidence to conclude that the Duke of Sussex was hacked,” his defense said on Monday.
Prince Harry’s last appearance in the UK dates back to his whirlwind trip for his father’s coronation on May 6.
He stayed away from his father and his brother, the heir to the crown William, whom he crushed in his memoirs published in January.
Charles III is this time on a private visit to Romania and therefore a reconciliation seems unlikely again.
At the end of March, Harry had created a surprise by appearing in the High Court – but in public – on the occasion of a preliminary hearing against ANL, the publisher of the Daily Mail, accused of the same methods by a series of personalities including singer Elton John.
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