Britain’s Prince Harry has said he suffered a lifelong “press invasion” and accused some media of having blood on his hands as he became the first royal to testify in court in more than 100 years.
Harry, 38, said he had been the victim of relentless and disturbing media abuse “most of my life up until this day” and attacked negative portrayals of him as the “spare to the heir”, reports RTE.
“How much more blood will smear their writing fingers before anyone can put a stop to this madness. So you’re either the ‘playboy prince’, the ‘loser’, the ‘dropout’ or, in my case, the ‘thicko ‘.” “, the ‘cheater’, the ‘underage drinker’, the ‘irresponsible drug user’, the list goes on,” the youngest son of King Charles III added in testimony, reports RTE.
The case is Harry’s latest legal battle with the press since he stepped down from frontline royal duties in early 2020 and moved to California with his American wife Meghan Markle.
The prince was reprimanded by the judge for not showing up for the opening speech of his case as he attended his baby girl’s second birthday party on Sunday.
The Duke of Sussex, as he is officially known, wore a dark suit and tie and began giving evidence just after 9.30am after being sworn in on the Bible.
Yesterday Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne said he had been the victim of illegal information gathering as a young boy and had his phone hacked “multiple occasions”, reports RTE.
“No aspect of the young prince’s life was safe” from press intrusion, he submitted, reports RTE.
In court documents released in April, he claimed the royal family as an institution had a “secret agreement” with a British publisher barring him from suing to prevent a royal from taking the witness stand.
He also claimed the monarchy wanted to avoid opening a ‘Pandora’s box’ of negative reporting that could damage the royal image.
Although the Royal Family is usually careful to stay out of politics, Harry also launched a tirade against the government yesterday.
“On a national level, at the moment, our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government, both of which I believe are at rock bottom. Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo,” he said in his witness statement, reports RTE.
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