<\/p>\n
Prince Harry has insisted he did not have a \u201cleaky\u201d social circle that gave stories about him to journalists at the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, as he told the high court the publisher of the titles had \u201can obsession\u201d with surveilling him.<\/p>\n
Giving evidence in the high court against Associated Newspapers Led (ANL), the Duke of Sussex rejected the publisher\u2019s claims that its journalists had secured information about him from his friends and acquaintances, rather than through unlawful means.<\/p>\n
In exchanges with ANL\u2019s lead barrister Antony White, the duke said it had been impossible to complain about some of the stories, which he now believes came from the use of unlawful information gathering.<\/p>\n
He said he was prevented from complaining by \u201cthe institution I was in\u201d, referring to the royal family. \u201cIf you complain, they [the press] double down on you, in my experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear,\u201d he said, adding that the moment he became suspicious about someone, he had to cut them off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are in a situation like this, the moment something private is out, your circle of trust and knowledge decreases over time,\u201d he said. \u201cThe stuff in these articles is not the kind of stuff I would talk about openly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prince Harry is making the claim against ANL along with six other high-profile figures, who have accused the publisher of using unlawful techniques.<\/p>\n
They include Doreen Lawrence<\/a>, the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in a racist murder more than 30 years ago. Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, the actors Elizabeth Hurley<\/a> and Sadie Frost, and the former Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes are also part of the action.<\/p>\n In a written witness statement submitted to the court, Harry alleged the techniques included \u201cthe hacking of my voicemails, landline tapping, blagging, obtaining itemised phone bills, hardwire tapping, and obtaining private flight information for my former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, among other criminal methods, all of which was deliberately undertaken with the purpose of publishing articles about me\u201d.<\/p>\n In his statement, he accused the publisher of having \u201ca campaign, an obsession of having every aspect of my life under surveillance so they could get the run on their competitors and drive me paranoid beyond belief, isolating me, and probably wanting to drive me to drugs and drinking to sell more of their papers\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI am determined to hold Associated accountable, for everyone\u2019s sake,\u201d his written submission said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am therefore committed to pursuing this claim because I believe it is in the public\u2019s interest. If the defendant, the owner of various national newspapers, including The Daily Mail which, by its own definition, is the most influential and popular newspaper in the UK, can evade justice without there being a trial of my claims, then what does that say about the industry as a whole and the consequences for our great country.\u201d<\/p>\n