Prince Harry was overcome with emotion as he spoke about his wife when wrapping up his evidence to the High Court this afternoon. The Duke of Sussex, who is one of seven high-profile individuals bringing legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information gathering, was on the brink of tears as he described the effects of ANL’s coverage on his wife, Meghan Markle.
“They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord,” he said. Harry’s evidence brought an end to the day’s proceedings, with the trial being adjourned to 10.30am on Thursday.
Barrister David Sherborne, for the group of high-profile figures suing the publisher, said they were “not in a position to have anyone else ready” to give evidence on Wednesday.
While giving testimony today, Harry spoke repeatedly about being unable to complain about intrusive press coverage while he was a member of the Royal Family and insisted that none of his close friends would speak to the press.
Giving evidence at the High Court yesterday, Harry appeared to get frustrated by lawyers acting on behalf of ANL, snapping: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”
In a frosty exchange with Antony White KC, for ANL, the duke was asked why it had taken him so long to bring the actions against the publisher, with the 14 articles raised by Harry having been published between 2001 and 2013.
A key tenet of ANL’s case is that the claims have been brought too late, as the law indicates privacy claims such as this one should be brought within six years. White suggested to Harry that he could have launched the legal proceedings within this time frame, rather than waiting until October 2022.
But the duke said he did not raise complaints about some of the articles at the centre of his claim “because of the institution I was in”.
White said the duke “did not complain and no complaint was made on your behalf” about articles Harry 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.”
The duke replied: “To a certain extent, but I would not have been able to complain about them anyway, because of the institution I was in.”
This is something he reiterated in his witness statement for the trial, where he described having an “uneasy relationship” with the press following the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
“As a member of the institution the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain’” he said.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
