Prince Harry today told the Supreme Court what he thinks is in the public interest – amid a series of testy exchanges with the defense attorney, who told him: “Could I ask the questions?”
The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex arrived outside the Rolls Building in central London at 9.52am in a black Range Rover wearing a dark suit and silver tie and rejoined the witness stand just before 10.30am.
Harry is suing MGN for damages, alleging that journalists have been linked in their titles to methods including phone hacking, “blaming” or obtaining information through deception, and the use of private investigators for illegal activities.
He alleges that around 140 articles published by MGN newspapers between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these were selected to be considered in the trial.
Earlier in today’s cross-examination, Mr Green questioned Harry about an article in The People in May 2005 entitled “Harry Carry!”. – who gave details of a knee injury that had delayed his entry into Sandhurst.
Prince Harry waved and smiled as he arrived at the High Court in London this morning
Updates from the first day of the trial
- Harry attacked the media and criticized the “lowest” British government;
- He described Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, as a “double-tongued bastard”;
- He said stories about James Hewitt being his “biological father” made him worry “I might be ousted from the royal family”;
- He said he feared being expelled from Eton for drug use;
- He said he made a “stupid decision” at a costume party where he was accused of “flirting with a brunette” while dating Chelsy Davy;
- He said he could not remember the details of a hunting trip he took with wife Davy to South Africa in 2005;
- He claimed “horrible personal attacks and intimidation” against him and Meghan were allegedly carried out by former editor Piers Morgan;
- Harry has been accused by attorney Andrew Green KC of being “in the realm of total speculation”;
- Duke repeatedly said, “You’d have to ask the journalists yourself” when asked how he could prove articles were hacked.
- Sometimes he had trouble finding evidence on the screen in front of him. “It’s on the screen in front of you,” Mr Green told him. “It isn’t,” Harry said. “I think so,” said the attorney. “If you say so,” said Harry;
- In one conversation, he told Mr Green: “As a chef, he would be too busy to make that call.” In return, Mr Green suggested that he would have other chefs work for him. “I have no idea, I’ve never worked in a kitchen before,” the prince replied.
Mr Green asked for a press release from Clarence House about the injury, which included a quote from Harry.
The attorney asked if the Duke stood by the evidence in his testimony, in which he said he “doesn’t go around discussing any medical issues or injuries.”
Harry replied, “Yes, it’s absolutely correct.” “It’s a reference to the time I was at Sandhurst and the distrust I ended up having… towards the medical staff at Sandhurst.”
Mr Green then turned to an article published in the Independent on the same day as the People article and asked the Duke if he accepted that there was some public interest in the story.
Yesterday Harry said there is “a difference between the public interest and what is in the public interest”.
Harry replied today, “No, I don’t.”
Mr Green asked the Duke what he thought was a story of public interest about him.
“I’m not exactly sure, I would speculate,” Harry replied.
“Could you speculate for a moment,” said Mr. Green.
Harry said it could be in the public interest to report “a life-threatening injury” he suffered.
At one point in the cross-examination, the king spoke directly to the judge.
Mr Green replied: “Could I ask the questions?”
In another heated conversation, Harry was asked if he would be happy or disappointed to learn his phone had never been hacked by Mirror Group journalists.
“That would be speculation,” Harry replied.
He said newspapers had been hacked on an “industrial scale” and would therefore find it “an injustice” if this were not “proven” in his case.
“So you want your phone to be hacked,” Mr. Green asked.
“No one wants their phone hacked,” Harry replied.
Harry was seen carrying a bundle of documents as he entered the courtroom
Harry smiles as he is greeted on the steps of the Rolls Building – part of the High Court
The royal family is suing Mirror Group Newspapers for damages over allegations that 140 articles published by its titles between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered through unlawful means
In a 49-page testimony released yesterday, the Duke said he had “a very difficult time trusting anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia”.
“Friendships were lost completely unnecessarily,” he continued, later adding that some of his friends “were immediately targeted.”
The Duke later said he could now see “how much of my life was wasted on this paranoia,” adding, “I’ve always heard people call my mother paranoid, but that wasn’t the case .”
“She was scared of what was actually happening to her, and now I know I felt the same way.”
Mr. Green questioned Harry about 20 of the 33 articles over the course of yesterday.
Harry was asked why he had complained about articles in MGN titles when the same information had previously been made publicly available by other media outlets.
The Duke said he understood MGN journalists had used unlawful methods to gain “exclusive” angles on existing stories or to advance the story in any way.
David Sherborne, Prince Harry’s lead attorney, smiles for the cameras as he appeared in court today
Boxes are seen being carried into the Supreme Court this morning before the hearing begins
Mr Green also asked Harry about his allegations that articles “made him paranoid and distrustful of those around him” and whether he was referring to specific MGN articles or “the overall effect of all articles” on him.
Harry said, “Yes, because… it’s been 20 years and I can only speculate if I saw those articles then.”
“I certainly saw a lot of articles at the time and was made aware of this… unfortunately by the behavior and reaction of my inner circle.”
The Duke added that “your circle of friends shrinks” when information he’d only shared with a few of his closest circle was made public.
The Duke of Sussex faced five grueling hours of cross-examination yesterday
MGN denies its allegation and has either denied or not admitted that articles about Harry’s interrogation at trial involved phone hacking or unlawful activity.
Opening the Duke’s individual case on Monday, Mr Green said there was “simply no evidence to support a finding that the Duke of Sussex was hacked, let alone on a habitual basis” and that the payment records used in the Duke’s claim were “simple demonstrate no unlawful conduct or knowledge thereof”.
Harry’s claim is being heard along with three other “representative” claims during a trial that began last month and is expected to last six to seven weeks.
The three other representative plaintiffs are Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, best known for his role as Kevin Webster on the long-running soap, former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson and ex -Wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse, Fiona Wightman.
BELOW IS HARRY’S FULL WRITTEN WITNESS STATEMENT –