Prince Harry says Mail publisher made his wife Meghan’s ‘life a misery’

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:

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.”