An emotional Prince Harry testified that wife Meghan Markle’s royal life was “absolute misery” during his trial against a UK tabloid publisher.
Harry, 41, is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which publishes the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for allegedly gathering information illegally.
On Wednesday, he appeared at the High Court, where he was questioned by both ANL’s attorney as well as his own, David Sherborne.
Sherborne concluded his questioning by asking his client how the proceedings have made him feel.
“It’s fundamentally wrong to put us through this again when all we wanted was an apology and accountability. It’s a horrible experience,” the Duke of Sussex replied, fighting back tears.
“They continue to come after me. They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.”
According to Hello! magazine, Harry — who married Markle, 44, in May 2018 — sniffled as he exited the courtroom.
While on the stand, the prince lamented that his case against ANL felt like a “recurring traumatic experience” and a “repeat of the past.”
“I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialized by these people,” he said, calling the notion that he doesn’t have any rights to privacy “disgusting.”
According to the Independent, Harry also spoke about his past relationship with Chelsy Davy, saying press intrusion negatively affected her, too.
At one point, ANL’s attorney told Harry that his past comments about being in love with Davy while at a campfire in Botswana could have only become known to Mail reporters if someone had told them.
But Harry argued that the information was more likely obtained when he “talked about it on a voicemail” or other communication.
“The quote is being attributed to three strangers. You are now trying to suggest that these three strangers are some of my closest friends. That does not add up,” he said.
“These three people have never shared anything with anybody. If they had, there would be a lot more out there.”
Following Harry’s testimony, his rep told Page Six, “Today’s cross-examination was revealing in its weakness: assertive in tone, but collapsing immediately under scrutiny from Prince Harry. Associated couldn’t wait to get him off the stand, questioning him for just two hours and avoiding 10 of his 14 articles entirely.”
Harry added in his own brief statement to us, “Today we reminded the Mail Group who is on trial and why.”
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Harry was called to testify earlier than expected; he was supposed to take the stand Thursday, but ANL’s attorney concluded opening submissions quicker than anticipated on Wednesday.
A source close to Harry accused ANL’s legal team of “game-playing and dirty tricks,” claiming that they “have had months to inform the court that their opening argument would last less than two hours.”
The source continued, “They think that by pulling the schedule forward 24 hours they are giving Prince Harry less time to prepare, [but] he’s been preparing for this moment for the last three years. Safe to say, he’s ready.”
The intense media coverage — and scrutiny — surrounding Harry and Markle’s lives as royals is one of the reasons they stepped down from their positions and moved their family to the US in 2020.