By Editor-June 6th, 2023.
The 55-page witness statement in which Prince Harry laid out his complaint against Mirror Group Newspapers has been released to the public today. Click here witness statement to read the statement in its entirety.
In the 55-page long document the Duke of Sussex said that the alleged unlawful actions of journalists from The Mirror Group “affected every area of my life”, questioning “How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness?”
The Duke of Sussex is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its titles – which also include the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
Extracts from the complaint that have garnered press attention include the following:
Prince Harry accused the tabloid press of casting members of the Royal Family into roles and creating an “alternative and distorted version of me”.
“You’re then either the ‘playboy prince’, the ‘failure’, the ‘drop out’ or, in my case, the ‘thicko’, the ‘cheat’, the ‘underage drinker’, the ‘irresponsible drug taker’…”
The duke also said stories he believes originated from hacking not only caused security concerns, but damaged his relationships.
“I felt that I couldn’t trust anybody, which was an awful feeling for me especially at such a young age,” he said.
His statement is critical of the broader tabloid press, while there are also specific claims levelled against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People.
In the statement, he also says the thought of Daily Mirror’s former editor Piers Morgan “and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages”, made him feel “physically sick” and claims he and his wife, Meghan, have been subjected to a “barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation” from Mr Morgan as a result of the claim against MGN
Prince Harry also alleges journalists would illegally obtain information about former girlfriend Chelsy Davy’s flights to the UK to see him and that when he went to the airport to meet her, there were photographers lying in wait. Prince Harry also states that the UK government and press are at “rock bottom” and that his motive for bringing the case is to promote press reforms.
Under cross-examination, Andrew Green KC, representing MGN, put to the duke that some of the 33 stories in question were written by Mirror Group newspapers as follow-ups to articles in rival publications, but Prince Harry responded that the stories contained additional information that, in his opinion, could only have been obtained illegally though intercepting cell phone message recordings or other unspecified illegal means.
Souce: BBC and other agencies.
