On Tuesday, Harry faced nearly five hours of questions and in his written evidence before the court he said MGN’s alleged intrusion into his life contributed to “a huge amount of paranoia” in his relationships.
The Duke of Sussex is to resume giving evidence in his High Court claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over alleged unlawful information gathering.
The duke is suing 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.
He alleges that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) titles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial.
Harry hacking trial – as it happened on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Harry faced nearly five hours of questions as he became the first senior royal in more than two decades to appear personally in court proceedings.
In his written evidence before the court, the 38-year-old said MGN’s alleged intrusion into his life contributed to “a huge amount of paranoia” in his relationships.
In a 49-page witness statement, the duke said that he found it “very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia”.
“Friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily,” he said, later adding that some of his friends “became instant targets”.
Other key claims from Harry’s witness statement:
• He feels “sick” at the thought of former Mirror editor Piers Morgan and journalists allegedly hacking his mother Diana’s phone
• He believes both the UK press and government “are at rock bottom”
• Reveals he has never been an account holder or received a bill for a mobile phone – this was dealt with “by the Institution, presumably for security purposes although that now seems rather ironic”
• He also says the Institution could “wipe our devices remotely”
Andrew Green KC, for MGN, questioned Harry on about 20 of the 33 articles over the course of Tuesday.
Harry was asked about why he has complained about articles in MGN titles when the same information had previously been put into the public domain by other media outlets.
The duke said his understanding was that MGN journalists used unlawful methods to get “exclusive” angles on existing stories or to move the story on in some way.