Prince Harry witness statement: Duke blames tabloids for 'inciting hatred'

Jun 08, 2023

Details of Prince Harry's accusations against the publisher of the Mirror newspaper have been released in his witness statement as he begins giving evidence in court. The Duke of Sussex says he wants to make sure "unlawful behaviour is exposed".

Entertainment reporter @gemmapeplow

Wednesday 7 June 2023 03:17, UK

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Prince Harry has blamed the tabloid press for "inciting hatred and harassment" in his private life, saying he ended up "playing up to a lot of the headlines" when he was cast as a "playboy prince" and a "thicko" as a young royal.

Details of Harry's accusations against the publisher of the Mirror newspaper have been released in his witness statement as began giving evidence in court.

The Duke of Sussex wrote: "I genuinely feel that in every relationship that I've ever had - be that with friends, girlfriends, with family or with the army, there's always been a third party involved, namely the tabloid press."

Harry hacking trial - as it happened on Tuesday

He said he was bringing the claim "to hold people to account for what they have done, so that they can't hide behind their own institution or organisation", and that he was "determined to get to the bottom of it once and for all".

Members of the Royal Family get "cast into a specific role by the tabloid press", he said. As "spare" to the "heir" - Prince William - "you're then either the 'playboy prince', the 'failure', the 'drop out' or, in my case, the 'thicko', the 'cheat', the 'underage drinker', 'irresponsible drug taker', the list goes on.

"As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to pin on me mainly because I thought that, if they are printing this rubbish about me and people were believing it, I may as well 'do the crime', so to speak.

"It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a 'damaged' young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers. Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile."

Because of the personality he had been portrayed as, every time he walked into a room he "expected people to be thinking 'he's obviously going to fail this test, because he's a thicko'," he wrote.

Other key claims from Harry's witness statement:

• "Intrusion" into his private life caused paranoia around his relationships

• He feels "sick" at the thought of former Mirror editor Piers Morgan and journalists allegedly hacking his mother Diana's phone

• He believes both the UK press and government "are at rock bottom"

• Reveals he has never been an account holder or received a bill for a mobile phone - this was dealt with "by the Institution, presumably for security purposes although that now seems rather ironic"

• He also says the Institution could "wipe our devices remotely"

Harry, 38, is suing the publisher, attempting to prove that reporters for the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People titles were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called "blagging" or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators, between 1996 and 2010.

MGN is contesting the claims and has either denied or not admitted each of them. The publisher also argues that some of the claimants have brought their legal action too late.

Relationships before Meghan

In his statement, Harry said he found it hard to trust people and that he suffered "bouts of depression and paranoia", with friends and girlfriends becoming "instant targets".

At least one of his girlfriends told him "she was warned off me by her parents saying 'is it really worth all the aggravation?'," he wrote.

Writing about his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, he said alleged press intrusion "led her to make the decision that a royal life was not for her, which was incredibly upsetting for me at the time".

'My mother wasn't paranoid'

In his statement, Harry also included details of newspaper reports based on a "rumour" that his biological father was James Hewitt.

Princess Diana did have an affair with Major Hewitt while she was married to the now King Charles.

"Numerous newspapers had reported a rumour that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born," Harry wrote.

Read more:The key people named in Harry's witness statementWhich articles have been brought up?

"At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn't actually aware that my mother hadn't met Major Hewitt until after I was born."

The prince went on to say he felt "constantly suspicious" of "everyone" around him, and adds: "I've always heard people refer to my mother as paranoid, but she wasn't. She was fearful of what was actually happening to her and now I know that I was the same."

More key points from the witness statement

• Harry says he was "only 5%" funded by the UK taxpayer as a royal, but that tabloids felt they "owned him"

• Hits out at medical details such as injuries being published - says he was "singled out" as a "p****" at school and at Sandhurst

• Says he is "shocked and appalled at the sheer volume" of payments made by MGN titles to private investigators

• Admits he would have used the phrase "two-face s***" about "indiscreet" Paul Burrell, his mother's former butler

• Criticises the "cowardice" of journalists not giving evidence in court

• Details story about poker night with the late Caroline Flack, and says she was "often hounded" by tabloids

'Harry's Cocaine Ecstasy and GHB Parties' and other stories

Harry alleges about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial.

In his statement, he discusses each of them. Referring to the story above, he said it affected his time at school. "This article, along with the NOTW coverage, had a huge impact on my life. Eton had a zero drugs policy in place, and I was extremely worried I was going to be expelled," he wrote.

Read more:Harry v Mirror publisher - the opening statements'Devastation' and 'discord': Explosive start to court battle

Referring to another story, headlined "Beach Bum Harry", published in 2003, Harry explained this was about a trip to Noosa, in Australia, and it included a picture of him in the sea. He had been staying in a house with friends after visiting Steve Irwin's Crocodile Zoo when he was photographed.

"I only learnt recently that the Queen had asked one of her assistant private secretaries to fly out to Noosa and take a house down the road from where I was staying, without me knowing," he wrote. "She was concerned about the extent of the coverage of my trip and wanted someone I knew to be nearby, in case I needed support."

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Charles was 'sympathetic' over incident with paparazzi photographer

Harry also described being accused of lashing out at a photographer in a scuffle outside a nightclub in 2004, and how a photograph appeared in the media.

"This was a particularly challenging period of my youth," he said. "I had just turned 20, and like most 20 year-olds, I wanted to go out and socialise. However, everywhere I went, the paparazzi seemed to turn up..."

He added: "As I reached the car, I could hear taunting. I was being egged on for a reaction, knowing I'd been out and had a few drinks. A camera hit me across my nose as I was opening the door, I turned, grabbed the nearest camera to me and shoved it backwards."

Harry said he was taken back to Clarence House afterwards and then to see a doctor.

"Everyone in the family, including my father, was sympathetic to the position I was in, there was no respite, never an 'off' moment when I was allowed to go out with my friends without the intrusion and harassment."

He said he was "not sure how the defendant's journalists could have legitimately obtained" the information they had in their story.

'I promised Chelsy I wasn't given a lap dance'

Writing about an article headlined "Chel Shocked", published by The People in 2006, Harry said he visited a Spearmint Rhino strip club but did not have a lap dance.

The article reported that his then girlfriend Ms Davy had gone "berserk" and slammed the phone down over the night out - however, the duke said in his witness statement: "I don't think Chelsy did go mad about me going there. We did speak about it over the phone, but I promised her that I hadn't had a lap dance and stayed with the three other cadets that had girlfriends."

The duke said he believed journalists had access to one of their phone records.

"The detail about the timing and length of the calls is so specific. With hindsight, it seems likely to me that the Defendant's journalists had access to one of our phone records and put two and two together to make a story."

'I need to make sure this unlawful behaviour is exposed'

In his statement, Harry describes having "a front row seat" to the "huge problem" of those in the media who "have stolen or highjacked the privileges and powers of the press".

He said he does not want anyone else to experience what he has "on a personal level", and continued: "But also, on a national level as, at the moment, our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government - both of which I believe are at rock bottom...

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"I may not have a role within the Institution but, as a member of the British Royal family, and as a soldier upholding important values, I feel there's a responsibility to expose this criminal activity in the name of public interest."

The opening arguments from lawyers

On Monday, lawyers for both sides made their opening arguments, with David Sherborne, for Harry, claiming that Mirror journalists listened to voicemail messages from Princess Diana while Piers Morgan was editor of the newspaper.

He also told the court how alleged intrusion caused "mistrust" between Harry and Prince William. There was "no time" in Harry's life "when he was safe from this activity", the barrister said, adding: "Nothing was sacrosanct or out of bounds and there was no protection from this unlawful information gathering."

In his opening statement, MGN's lawyer, Andrew Green, told the court there was no evidence to support the duke's claims.

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It was "obvious" that security arrangements around Harry "were like very few on Earth", he said, and that any journalist "would know they would be taking an absolutely enormous risk" in carrying out any unlawful activity around the royal.

He also dismissed the claim that Princess Diana's voicemails were hacked as "total speculation" and "without any evidential basis whatsoever".

Harry did not attend Monday's court session - much to the "surprise" of the judge, Mr Justice Fancourt - as he only flew into the UK from Los Angeles on Sunday night, having celebrated his daughter Lilibet's second birthday earlier that day, Mr Sherborne said.

Harry In Court - Watch special programme on Sky News tonight at 9pm