Prince Harry held back tears in the witness box as he told London’s High Court yesterday that the Daily Mail had made his wife Meghan’s life ‘an absolute misery’ as he gave evidence against the paper’s publisher in a privacy lawsuit.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, and six other claimants including singer Elton John are suing the Mail’s publisher Associated Newspapers for alleged privacy violations dating from the early 1990s to the 2010s.
Associated, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday, has called the allegations ‘preposterous smears’, saying its journalists relied on legitimate sources, including friends and acquaintances of the celebrities.
Harry, who in 2023 became the first royal in 130 years to give evidence in court during another lawsuit against the Press, delivered a combative performance under questioning from Associated’s lawyer Antony White.
But he grew emotional when he was asked about the impact of the case, saying his treatment by Associated had ‘only got worse’ since he sued the publisher in 2022.
“I think it is fundamentally wrong to have to put all of us through this again when all we were asking for is an apology and some accountability,” King Charles’ younger son said.
“It is a horrible experience and the worst of it is that by sitting up here and taking a stand against them ... they continue to come after me.” Choking up, Harry, who now lives with Meghan in California, added: “They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery.”
In a final exchange of his less-than-two-hour testimony, Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne asked how it felt to read Associated’s defence. Harry said it felt like ‘a repeat of a past, a recurring traumatic experience’.
“Having to sit here and go through this all again and have them claim I don’t have any right to any privacy is disgusting,” he said.
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