Prince Harry testifies in court in phone tapping case: Invasive articles impacted my childhood

Britain's Prince Harry took to the witness stand on Tuesday to testify as a witness in a lawsuit that he has filed against the British tabloid Daily Mirror accusing them of phone hacking and other unlawful activities. Harry is King Charles and the late Princess Diana's younger son and has always been vocal about the toxic tabloid culture in Britain and how it has impacted him since childhood. 

Harry is the first senior British royal to give evidence in court in 130 years. In 2020, he and his wife Meghan Markle quit their roles as senior members of the royal family and opted for a more private life in the US. Since then Harry and Meghan have had a strained relationship with the royal family.

'Subjected to invasive articles since childhood'

On Tuesday, Harry stated in court that he has been subjected to incredibly invasive articles since his childhood. Harry was 13 when his mother passed away in a tragic car crash in Paris while being chased by the paparazzi.

When the court asked Harry if he could recall any particular news article that carries a story about him during childhood, the Duke of Sussex was unable to specify and instead said, "I was a child, I was at school, these articles were incredibly invasive, every single time one of these articles was written, it would have an impact on my life, the people around me, my mother in this case."

The trial began in May. Harry is one of more than 100 high-profile figures suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, for alleged wrongdoing between 1991 and 2011.

MGN, now owned by Reach, apologised at the beginning of the trial and admitted on one occasion that the Sunday People had unlawfully sought information about Harry, accepting he was entitled to compensation.

However, the publication has rejected his other allegations, saying he had no evidence for his claims.

It is expected that Harry will be asked about the role of Buckingham Palace during his cross-examination. MGN has reportedly claimed that many of the articles were published with the information provided by royal aides.

Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, told the court on Monday that the lawsuit was not part of a vendetta against the press but intended to focus attention on alleged unlawful activities.

Sherborne said some 2,500 articles about Harry's private life had appeared in the MGN titles during the period the allegations covered, with nothing being "sacrosanct or out of bounds" and "no protection" from these unlawful information-gathering methods.

(With inputs from agencies)
 

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