Prince Harry admitted before a judge today that he was aware of “no evidence” that he had been hacked by a tabloid newsgroup.
But he said it would be “unfair” if he were denied victory in his Supreme Court phone-hacking case against the publisher of the Mirror.
Mirror Group Newspapers’ Andrew Green KC told the prince he was “in the land of total speculation” and that there were no call logs to back up his claims.
On Harry’s second day on the witness stand in the Rolls building, Mr Green asked him, “Are you aware of any evidence that gives any indication of the extent to which you were hacked, if any?”
The fifth in line replied, “No.” That is one of the reasons I am here, my lord.”
Prince Harry, here leaving court with David Sherborne, admitted before a judge today that he was aware of “no evidence” that he had been hacked by a tabloid newsgroup
Harry, pictured here in a court sketch, responded by alleging that the newspaper destroyed large amounts of evidence, including through the use of “burner phones” to cover up its wrongdoing
Harry and Meghan attend the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York on May 16
The KC later said: “You are probably aware that at no time is there a single piece of call data from any Mirror Group journalist on your mobile phone?”
But Harry, who was far more optimistic and confident than on his first wavering day on the stand, countered by claiming that the newspaper had destroyed vast amounts of evidence, including by using “burner phones” to cover up its wrongdoing.
Harry appeared on the verge of tears as he ended his historic day and a half answering questions in court.
During the tumultuous final hours on the witness stand, the Duke voluntarily shared details of his turbulent love life, including a trip to a strip club.
But he has slammed hurtful and “disturbing” reports in Mirror Group headlines about the breakup of his relationship with first love Chelsy Davy and accused The People newspaper of illegally accessing their phone records.
Harry, the first senior nobleman to testify in court in 132 years, claimed he may have been hacked “daily” by Mirror newspapers over a 15-year period since his school days at Eton.
He claimed there was “clear evidence pointing to an incredible level of suspicion” and that he had been hacked “on an industrial scale”. He told the judge, Judge Fancourt, that he would “feel a certain wrong” if his lawsuit were not accepted.
Harry claimed that stories in The People about him and Ms Davy were “incredibly suspicious” for citing “palace sources” at a time when the young couple were so cautious they never gave “anything” to the palace told.
Harry accused the newspaper of using the “palace sources” attribution to cover up the true source of the information: phone hacking.
At one point, Mr Green told him, “So we’re in the land of total speculation as to whether this is voicemail interception?” The Duke replied, “No, not at all.”
Mr Green asked the Duke if he was aware that two of Ms Davey’s friends had leaked information to the media. “I highly doubt that,” he said. The former soldier also denied claims he “loved the army more” than Ms Davey in a story.
Andrew Green KC, seen here leaving court, told the Mirror Group Newspapers that he was “in the land of total speculation” and that there were no phone records to back up his claims
Harry, pictured here leaving court, appeared on the verge of tears as he ended his historic day and a half answering questions in court
And in several terse conversations with Mr Green, he claimed the Mirror articles were riddled with inaccuracies. Harry recounted a story that claimed Ms Davey “blew up” over his boozy visit to Spearmint Rhino’s “sleazy” lap dance club and said it was “actually wrong” that “one of the girls who she wanted to dance naked, was a tall, statuesque blonde.” Who has more than a passing reference to Prince Harry’s girlfriend Chelsy Davy,” adding, “I’m just saying, my lord, that’s not true.”
He informed Mr Judge Fancourt: “I see no quotes from what I believe to be the ‘Lithuanian lap dancer’ who sat on my lap.”
In his written testimony released on Tuesday, Harry wrote: “I don’t think Chelsy went mad because I went there.” did a lap dance.”
During his testimony today, Harry recounted a night in London when a paparazzi photographer tried to escape in his car as he and his police officers tried to confront him.
He claimed the photographer ran a red light and drove on the wrong side of the road to escape and “endangered everyone around him”.
Harry claimed, “He decided to escape the police.” This is not normal “Pap” behavior. “We believe there was an illegal device in his car.”
The 38-year-old Duke’s testimony came far more confident than on his first day on the witness stand, when he struggled to justify his hacking claims and repeatedly appeared unaware that the articles he believed were being published came from hacker attacks, actually only follow-up articles from other publications were the BBC, or from official palace statements – and in one case an interview he had given himself.
Faced with further harassment today, he admitted he wasn’t “aware” that the News of the World newspaper had previously published a Sunday Mirror story about his split from wife Davy.
And to a story about his “open frolicking” with a blonde friend in Twickenham, he admitted he wasn’t aware the content came from the Press Association news agency the day before.
The Duke, who previously denied collaborating with royal author Omid Scobie on the exuberant biography Finding Freedom, was asked if he knew Mr Scobie. Harry replied, “Yes, I do,” before hastily adding, “I know him.”
The Mirror Group denies all claims. The case is expected to last seven weeks and, now that Harry’s case is closed, is about halfway done. Two Coronation Street soap stars and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife are also suing the publisher.