At the helm, Prince Harry denounces the intrusion of the press and tells his suffering

Sarah Menai with AFP / Photo credit: WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ / ANADOLU AGENCY / ANADOLU AGENCY VIA AFP 07:48, 07 June 2023

"Every article has made me suffer," the Duke of Sussex said after taking an oath on the Bible as a witness. Harry denounced "the invasion of the press for most of his life" and claimed to have "experienced the hostility of the press since (his) birth".

First appearance of a member of the royal family at the helm in more than a century

This testimony of the 38-year-old prince is the first appearance of a member of the royal family at the bar since that of the future Edward VII in 1891 for a defamation lawsuit.

Exiled in California with his wife Meghan, the youngest son of King Charles III, in cold with the rest of the British royal family, accuses the tabloid press of having been responsible for the death of his mother Diana, chased by paparazzi in Paris in 1997. He also blames him for what he calls harassment towards Meghan and for having a responsibility for the bad relationship he has with his family.

He has fought several legal battles. In the ongoing trial, which began last month, Harry accuses the publisher of the Daily Mirror of using illicit processes to gather information, including hacking into telephone messages, between 1996 and 2010.

"Despicable behaviour" on the part of these newspapers

"In my experience as a member of the royal family, each of us is assigned a specific role by the tabloid press," he said in his witness statement. Then the prince drew up the list: "You are either the playboy prince or the loser (...) or, in my case, the cheater, the underage drinker, the irresponsible addict and the list goes on."

"Looking back on it today, such behavior" on the part of these newspapers "is utterly despicable," he added. "How much more blood is going to stain their fingers before someone puts an end to this madness?" asked Harry in a passage of his written witness statement, referred to at the hearing, where he also denounced the links between the press and the government, both "at their lowest".

Harry paranoid

Thirty-three disputed articles were retained by the judge in the proceedings out of 147 targeted by Harry. His lawyer claimed that the media group had used the services of "at least 30 private detectives".

Faced with these accusations, Andrew Green, the lawyer of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) - which in addition to the Daily Mirror newspaper publishes Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, reiterated the group's "unreserved" apology. MGN has acknowledged since the beginning of the trial "some evidence" of illegal collection of information but highlights the age of the facts and rejects some accusations.

The Duke of Sussex described the impact the illegal collection of information had on him: "I felt like I couldn't trust anyone, which was a terrible feeling for me." "By discovering the extent of the illegal activities carried out by (...) MGN towards me, I am somewhat relieved to know that my paranoia towards my friends and family was actually misplaced."

The hearing continues this Wednesday morning

The hearing of the Duke of Sussex is scheduled to continue on Wednesday morning. Prince Harry's previous appearance in the UK dates back to his whirlwind trip to his father's coronation on May 6. He has kept a distance from his father and brother, crown heir William, whom he squeezed in his memoirs published in January.

Charles III was on a private visit to Romania this time, making reconciliation unlikely again. At the end of March, Harry had created the surprise by appearing at the High Court - but in the 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 the singer Elton John.