Harry Issues Bold Statement After Cross-Examination: 'We Reminded the Mail Who's on Trial'
Court cases are often more about emotion than about law, and this week offered a clear example of the same. Prince Harry is back on UK Soil for his case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. Unhappy with privacy breaches, the Prince, along with six other public figures, brought the case against one of the biggest newspaper publishers in Britain. On the third day, after finishing a two-hour cross-examination at the High Court, the Prince issued a strong statement, reminding ANL who is actually on trial.
Harry, along with Sir Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and others, brought legal action against the publisher, with allegations of phone tapping and the use of private records without consent. Each claimant has argued that their private lives were intruded upon in ways that crossed legal boundaries. ANL, on the other hand, has strongly denied these claims, suggesting that their method of collecting data was lawful and upholds the standards of journalism. On Wednesday, some tough exchanges between the Duke and ANL’s legal team took place, with the Prince later giving a statement to GB News. He said, “Today we reminded the Mail Group who is on trial and why.”
His spokesperson later expanded on that view, describing the cross-examination as weak in substance. “Today’s cross-examination was revealing in its weakness: assertive in tone, but collapsing immediately under scrutiny from Prince Harry.” They also claimed the questioning avoided most of the articles at the center of the case. “Associated couldn’t wait to get him off the stand, questioning him for just 2 hours and avoiding 10 of his 14 articles entirely,” the spokesperson slammed. While Harry set the record straight, inside the courtroom, the mood was drastically different as he described the personal impact of the coverage.
Quite emotional, Harry described that the entire experience of bringing the case to court felt deeply unfair. Talking about his wife, Meghan Markle, he said, “They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.” Calling it a ‘horrible experience,’ he highlighted, “It’s fundamentally wrong to put us through this again when all we wanted was an apology and accountability.” At one point, he appeared reportedly close to tears as he spoke about the repeated strain on his family. He also addressed claims about his inner circle, firmly rejecting the idea that his close friends or contacts leaked private details to the press.
He said, “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.” He added it was often impossible to complain about coverage, as ‘thousands’ of articles were being written about him. “If you complain, they double down on you, in my experience,” Harry argued. Describing the case as a “recurring traumatic experience,” the Duke insisted that he did not speak up before, as the ‘institution’ he was in always followed a ‘never complain, never explain’ policy. Now no longer bound by such rules, Harry is free to speak his mind.
Proceedings at the High Court will continue till March, with a written judgement expected later.