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LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
PRINCE HARRY HAS denied that he has “leaky” social circles as he gave evidence in his legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
The British prince also insisted that he was unable to complain about press coverage because of the royal institution.
In a frosty exchange between Harry and lawyers acting on behalf of Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), he told the Royal Courts of Justice in London: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”
He added that if he became suspicious of someone, “I would have to cut contact with this person”.
Harry is one of a number of celebrities and public figures to sue Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information gathering.
This includes claims that information for articles was obtained by carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as phone tapping and “blagging” private records.
Singer Elton John and his husband David Furnish, actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, and campaigner Doreen Lawrence – the mother of teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in 1993 by a gang of racists – are all part of the legal action.
ANL has strongly denied wrongdoing and is defending the claims.
In his witness statement for the trial, Harry said he has always had an “uneasy relationship” with the press, adding: “However, as a member of the institution the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain’.”
Speaking from the witness box, he told the court: “When you are in a situation like this, the moment something private is out, your circle of trust and knowledge decreases over time.”
He added: “The stuff in these articles is not the kind of stuff I would talk about openly.”
Harry said it would have been “impossible to complain” about certain stories because “thousands” of articles were being written about him by newspapers, adding: “If you complain, they double down on you, in my experience.”
He insisted he did not complain about some of the articles at the centre of his claim “because of the institution I was in”.
Antony White KC, for ANL, said Harry “did not complain and no complaint was made on your behalf” about articles the prince was aware of, adding: “That is because you believed, at the time that the articles were published, insofar as you saw them, that the information they contained came from legitimate sources.”
Harry replied: “To a certain extent, but I would not have been able to complain about them anyway, because of the institution I was in.”
One of the stories complained about by Harry concerned “confidential discussions” he had after a photo of a dying Princess Diana was published in the Italian press – an article he described as “beyond cruel”.
In his written evidence, Harry described an article published in the Daily Mail in July 2006 as “really disgusting”, saying he was having private discussions with his brother Prince William.
Other articles concerned his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy, with Harry telling the court he was “really worried something bad was going to happen” when he was in a relationship with her.
He said in written evidence: “I was never suspicious of Chelsy in relation to stories like this, but I was of her friends. If I saw this story at the time, I would have been very frustrated and angry.
“I would have questioned how Associated found out this information. But, at the same time, I would have felt like I had to accept this as the reality of my life.”
In court on Tuesday, David Sherborne, for the group of claimants, said that Harry feels he has “endured a sustained campaign of attacks against him” because he “had the temerity to stand up” to ANL.
The barrister said the 14 articles involved in Harry’s claim, written between 2001 and 2013 “focus primarily and in a highly intrusive and damaging way, on the relationships which he formed, or rather tried to form, during those years prior to meeting his now wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex”.
He also said that “smoke and mirrors” and “carefully orchestrated attacks” on the claimants could not “save Associated this time”.
“It is not the claim for damages that brings these claimants here. It is the uncovering of the truth of what was done to them, and Associated taking accountability for that.”
The trial is due to conclude in March, with a judgment due in writing at a later date.
With reporting from Press Association
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