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Live updates: Prince Harry back in court to testify in lawsuit accusing U.K. tabloids of phone hacking

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Prince Harry evidence against U.K. tabloids
Prince Harry gives evidence against U.K. tabloid media for breaching his privacy by phone hacking 03:51

London — Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, arrived at London's High Court for a second consecutive day Wednesday to testify in his lawsuit against Britain's Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). The 38-year-old second son of Britain's King Charles III is suing the tabloid publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering, including alleged voicemail hacking.

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A sketch shows Prince Harry in U.K. court on Tuesday, June 6 2023. Julia Quenzler via BBC News

On Tuesday, Harry told the court he was determined to use the case to stop the "madness" of news organizations using alleged illegal activities to obtain personal information to sell papers. 

Follow live updates from Prince Harry's testimony in London's High Court below. 

 

MGN's lawyer finishes questioning Prince Harry

MGN's lawyer Andrew Green finished going through the articles referenced in Prince Harry's witness statement and asked some final questions about Harry's claims.

"You advance a claim that your phone was hacked for a 15-year period between 1996 and 2010, don't you?" Green asked.

"Yes," Harry said.

"Are you claiming damages on the basis that your phone was being hacked on a daily basis throughout that 15 year period?" Green asked.

"It could be happening on a daily basis. I simply don't know," Harry replied.

"Are you aware of any evidence that gives any indication whatsoever as to the extent to which you were hacked, if at all, throughout this 15 year period?" Green asked, before finishing his cross-examination.

"No. That's part of the reason why I'm here," Harry said.

By Haley Ott
 

Prince Harry's legal battles against the U.K. press

Prince Harry is appearing in court this week as part of a case against the publisher Mirror Group Newspapers. He is claiming voicemail hacking and other illegal information gathering activities.

But this case isn't the only legal action Harry is currently involved in against Britain's tabloid press. His other actions are outlined here.

By Haley Ott
 

"I very much remember seeing this article."

MGN lawyer Andrew Green has gone quickly through the remaining articles referenced in Prince Harry's witness statement and is now asking him questions regarding the 33rd and final article, which was published in 2009 in The People tabloid, called "Chelsy's 'New Fella.'"

"I very much remember seeing this article when it came up," Harry told the court.

The article said that Harry had been "bombarding" Davy to try to get her back after the two had broken up, and his statement said it included a quote from a reported "close friend" of Davy's.

"The reports of the calls between us feel very suspicious to me. Again, this is not the kind of information that is flattering to me," Harry said in his written witness statement. "I would not have told anyone if I was calling Chelsy regularly and given the way Chelsy has also been guarded with who she tells information to, I have no idea who the 'close pal' could be that the Defendant's journalists are attributing some of the information to."

By Haley Ott
 

MGN lawyer brings up prior reporting

MGN's lawyer Andrew Green is asking Prince Harry about a 2008 article in the Mirror tabloid called "Harry fear as mobile is swiped," which is mentioned in Harry's claim.

He says the fact that Harry's phone was stollen was first reported by the AFP news agency at 10:58am, the day before the Mirror article came out, and was then picked up by other news sources. AFP cited sources with the Lesotho defense force, Green said.

"I remember this incident so clearly, I was pickpocketed. I suspected I was targeted, nothing about it felt opportunistic. It felt so smooth, so calculated and so clever," Harry said in his written statement released Tuesday. "My first worry when I realised it was gone that very private and personal text messages were going to be splashed across the newspapers. I knew it was likely the British press, including the Defendant, would know where I was, as they always did. I could never relax."

By Haley Ott
 

Article about relationship "very suspicious," Harry says

One article being discussed was published in 2007 and is about strain in the relationship between Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy.

"I really cannot understand how the Defendant's journalists obtained such specific details for this article... I find it very suspicious," Harry said in his witness statement.

"Given the hours I was working at the time, it's likely Chelsy and I did exchange voicemails even more often than normal, so I now believe that this information must have come from the hacking of our voicemails," Harry said.

By Haley Ott
 

Harry links story about night out to phone hacking

An article published in 2006, called "Chel Shocked," said Prince Harry's then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy got angry about an evening Harry spent at a strip club and called him a number of times to express her anger.

"The detail about the timing and length of the calls is so specific," Harry said in his witness statement, adding that he didn't believe Chelsy got angry with him.

He alleges that two payments to private investigators, in MGN's records, are linked to the story.

"Given the private details in the article, and the very specific details about my phone activity, I find these payments particularly suspicious," Harry said in his witness statement. "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."

By Haley Ott
 

MGN lawyer asks if Prince Harry would be "disappointed" if found not to have been hacked

"If the court were to find that you were never hacked by any MGN journalist, would you be relieved or would you be disappointed?" MGN lawyer Andrew Green asked Prince Harry.

"Well that would be speculating, and I'm not really sure if I would be relieved or disappointed," Harry said, adding that he believes phone hacking was taking place at the time at an "industrial scale across at least three papers" and therefore he would "feel some injustice.. if it wasn't accepted."

"Nobody wants to have been phone hacked," Harry said.

By Haley Ott
 

Harry asked questions about an article called "Harry Carry"

MGN's lawyer Andrew Green has asked Prince Harry about his allegations around an article called "Harry Carry," published in 2005, which his witness statement said was a two-page spread about Harry being let off daily marches at the military academy, Sandhurst, due to a knee injury.

The article included quotes from supposed "insiders" and information about Harry using a computer to email his then-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, according to Harry's witness statement.

"I was not going around freely discussing any medical issues or injuries that I had. I was almost conditioned to feel guarded at this point in my life, worrying I couldn't trust anyone for fear that it would end up splashed across the tabloids," Harry said in his witness statement. 

"I can't remember the specifics of how often I was speaking to Chelsy over email at this time, I wasn't sharing this information with my colleagues - who I'd only just met- least of all because that kind of thing would have made me seem soft, but also because me and Chelsy were so protective of our relationship and wanted people to know as little as possible for fear of 'leaks,'" Harry's witness statement said.

Harry said that he was shown evidence of payments to a private investigator from the period, and details of a phone call to a number used by a press secretary to then-Prince Charles, CBS partner network BBC News reported.

"I believe that the information in this article came from unlawful information gathering," Harry said.

By Haley Ott
 

What to expect on Harry's second day in court

Prince Harry will continue to face questions from the lawyer representing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), Andrew Green.

Green is questioning Harry about his 49-page witness statement, published Tuesday, that outlines times he believes MGN tabloids allegedly used unlawful tactics to gather information about him.

MGN denies unlawful activity in this case.

By Haley Ott
 

Harry slams "utterly vile" actions of U.K. tabloids

"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 said in a lengthy written witness statement released Tuesday as he appeared in London's High Court for his first day of cross-examination.

"I felt that I couldn't trust anybody, which was an awful feeling for me especially at such a young age. As I am uncovering the extent of the unlawful activities carried out by MGN's journalist and senior executives towards me, I feel somewhat relieved to know that my paranoia towards my friends and family had, in fact, been misplaced, although feel sad for how much it impacted my adolescence," Harry's witness statement said.

Harry blasted the "utterly vile" actions of Britain's tabloid press, accusing them of being "the mothership of online trolling."

"People have died as a result, and people will continue to kill themselves by suicide when they can't see any other way out," Harry said in his lengthy statement. "How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness."

"Our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government - both of which I believe are at rock bottom. Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo. 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," Harry's statement said.

By Haley Ott
 

Prince Harry arrives at court

Prince Harry has arrived at court for his second day of cross-examination. He is suing the tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers over unlawful information gathering, including voicemail hacking.

The case is civil not criminal, meaning that the standard of proof is different. Harry is seeking to convince the judge that, on the balance of probabilities, his claims are true. In the most serious criminal cases, a judge or jury must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.

That means Harry and his legal teams must show his claims are more likely true than untrue.

By Haley Ott
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