Jessica Rawnsley & Maia Daviesand
Imogen James,Royal Courts of Justice
The Duke of Sussex was visibly emotional as he told a court the life of his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, had been made “an absolute misery” by the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.
Prince Harry was speaking as he concluded his evidence in his case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) at the High Court, much of which focused on articles about his relationships before meeting Meghan.
The prince’s voice broke as he said the court battle had been a “horrible experience” for his family and that all he wanted was “an apology and some accountability”.
He is one of seven high-profile claimants accusing ANL of “grave breaches of privacy” over a 20-year period. The publisher has denied wrongdoing.
The prince’s claim focuses on 14 articles, most of which are about his relationship with a previous girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.
In his witness statement, he said the papers’ “terrifying” coverage of their relationship had left him “really worried something bad was going to happen”.
He said one article in 2006 – which claimed that Davy did not want the prince to join the Army – “added pressure and created a massive strain” on the relationship, causing his then-girlfriend to “distrust all of her friends”.
“It is impossible to sustain a relationship under these circumstances,” he said.
He accused the publisher of “probably wanting to drive me to drugs and drinking to sell more of their papers”.
The prince also said it was “beyond cruel” to publish an article detailing “confidential discussions” he had with his family after a photo of his dying mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was published in the Italian press.
The prince struck a sometimes-terse tone while answering questions from the publisher’s lawyer for more than two hours on Wednesday.
Antony White KC, for the publisher, suggested that some of the journalists who wrote the articles might have been in and around the prince’s social circle.
During one tense exchange in which it was suggested that a Mail reporter might have been in the same clubs as the prince, he snapped: “Good for her.”
He was interrupted multiple times by the judge, who reminded him his “job” was to answer the questions rather than argue his case.
Asked why he did not complain about the articles when they were published between 2001 and 2013, Prince Harry said he “was not allowed to complain” because he was a member of the “institution” – meaning the Royal Family.
Pressed again on the same point later, the duke responded: “Hindsight is a beautiful thing, Mr White.”
Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in January 2020 and moved to the US that summer. Press intrusion was claimed to be one reason for their departure.
Julia QuenzlerFollowing his court appearance, a spokesperson for the prince said the cross-examination had been “revealing in its weakness”.
“Assertive in tone, but collapsing immediately under scrutiny from Prince Harry. Associated couldn’t wait to get him off the stand, questioning him for just two hours and avoiding 10 of his 14 articles entirely.”
The prince added: “Today we reminded the Mail group who is on trial and why.”
The claimants have accused ANL of “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering” for stories between 1993 and “beyond” 2018, including through private investigators and blagging.
In his 23-page witness statement the prince said he had always felt under “24-hour surveillance” but at the time the articles were published “knew nothing of Associated’s unlawful acts that were directed at me and those around me”.
He said the articles drove him “paranoid beyond belief” and made him feel like he was “part of an endless pursuit, a campaign, an obsession of having every aspect of my life under surveillance”.
Harry added that the Mail was the first to publicly disclose Davy’s name and the subsequent “intrusion was terrifying for Chelsy: it made her feel like she was being hunted”.
“Their behaviour and treatment of Chelsy was not normal,” he said. “I was really worried something bad was going to happen.”
Harry told the court he did not remember reading the 2006 article about his and his brother’s reactions to the publication of a picture of their mother after her fatal car crash at the time, but said the “disgusting” piece made him think: “If Associated was willing to publish this type of material, then it really makes me wonder how far they are prepared to go.”
Information in the article, he said, suggested they “were plainly listening in to our calls”.
ANL has previously denied allegations of unlawful information gathering.
Joining the duke in bringing the lawsuit against ANL are:
- Actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost
- Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish
- Sir Simon Hughes, the former Liberal Democrat MP
- Baroness Doreen Lawrence, a campaigner whose son Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack in south London in 1993
White has said the claimants are “clutching at straws”, and that in some cases celebrities’ friends and social circles contributed as sources to Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists.
In court on Wednesday, he suggested Harry knew his social circle was “leaky”, to which the prince responded: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”
The case continues and is expected to last nine weeks.
It is Prince Harry’s third major court battle accusing newspaper groups of unlawful behaviour. In December 2023 he won 15 claims against the Mirror Group Newspapers and later settled others, while the Sun publisher apologised and agreed to pay “substantial damages” to the duke in January 2025.