Prince Harry appeared on the witness stand in a U.K. courtroom on Tuesday, becoming the first Royal to do so in more than a century.
The Duke of Sussex faced intense questioning from the defense team in his lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Daily Mirror, Good Morning America reports.
Accompanied by 100 other celebrities, including the estate of the late George Michael, Prince Harry, 39, is suing the media outlet for alleged misuse of private information from 1991 to 2011. The allegations include phone hacking and intercepting voicemails.
In a carefully crafted witness statement, Prince Harry asserted that articles published about him and his family during his childhood had a detrimental impact, fuelling feelings of paranoia.
“As a teenager and in my early 20s, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that [the tabloid press] wanted to pin on me mainly because I thought that, if they are printing this rubbish about me and people were believing it, I may as well ‘do the crime,’ so to speak,” he said in the statement.
“It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a ‘damaged’ young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers… Looking back on it now, such behavior on their part is utterly vile.”
Reflecting on the tabloid rumors surrounding his parentage, specifically the speculation about an affair between Princess Diana and James Hewitt, Harry expressed his suspicions that such stories were planted to potentially oust him from the Royal Family.
“Numerous newspapers had reported a rumour that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born. At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn’t actually aware that my mother hadn’t met Major Hewitt until after I was born,” he said. “This timeline is something I only learnt of … around 2014, although I now understand this was common knowledge amongst the Defendant’s journalists.”
He continued, “At the time, when I was 18 years old and had lost my mother just six years earlier, stories such as this felt very damaging and very real to me. They were hurtful, mean and cruel. I was always left questioning the motives behind the stories. Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public so I might be ousted from the Royal Family?”
Cavalry officer Hewitt became Princess Diana’s riding instructor in 1986.
The legal battle has Prince Harry’s team accusing Mirror Group Newspapers of unlawfully collecting information on an “industrial scale.” Harry’s attorney, David Sherborne, emphasised the severity of the situation, describing it as “a flood of illegality” approved by top-level executives.
Mirror Group Newspapers, however, contests the claims, arguing that the information in question was obtained through lawful reporting.
The publisher issued apologies for instances of “unlawful information gathering” and pledged that such conduct would not be repeated.
Prince Harry’s testimony is set to continue, with the lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers being one of six legal battles he is currently embroiled in against British tabloids. His appearance in court marks a pivotal moment in his ongoing crusade against what he describes as a difficult relationship with the U.K. tabloid press.
Prince Harry has also been critical of the British media’s treatment of his wife Meghan Markle, including addressing issues related to racism.
One significant moment was during the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired on March 7, 2021. In the interview, Prince Harry and Markle discussed their experiences with the British media, with Meghan sharing her concerns about racism and how it had affected her mental health.
The couple highlighted instances of negative press coverage and intrusive media scrutiny, pointing out the impact on their lives and well-being.
Prince Harry’s disapproval of the UK media’s approach dates back to 2016 when he criticised what he termed as the “racial undertones” in British news coverage, singling out outlets like Mail Online. The publication infamously featured a headline that overtly perpetuated racial stereotypes by describing Markle, 42, as “straight outta Compton.”
In response to the escalating media scrutiny and racial bias, a statement issued by the Royal Communications Secretary in November 2016 acknowledged the situation, stating, “His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”
Prince Harry’s ongoing criticism underscores the couple’s commitment to addressing the broader issues of racism and biased media portrayals, sparking conversations about accountability and responsibility within the media industry.
