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LONDON: Prince Harry said the press had blood on his hands when he gave evidence against a tabloid publisher who accused him of having titles. phone hacking And other illegal activities, becoming the first major royalist in the witness box in more than a century.
Harry, fifth in line to the throne, smiled briefly as he passed the waiting phalanx of photographers and camera crews as he arrived at the modern Rolls Building in central London, before an extremely rare appearance by a member of the royal family.
He and more than 100 other people are suing Mirror Newspapers Group (MGN), publisher of the newspaper The Daily MirrorSunday Mirror and Sunday People, over allegations of widespread impropriety between 1991 and 2011.
The youngest son of King Charles III He entered the witness box to face hours of cross-examination from MGN’s attorney, Andrew Green, over 33 newspaper articles Harry said were based on illegally collected information.
Green began by offering Harry a personal apology on behalf of his client over one instance in which he admitted to illegal information gathering.
“This should not have happened and will not happen again,” he said, adding that if the court agrees that MGN has committed wrongdoing on other occasions “you will be entitled to it, and you will receive a more thorough apology.”
During his cross-examination, Harry was asked about a passage in his written testimony in which he referred to “appalling” behavior by British press. “How much blood will be on their writing fingers before anyone can put an end to this madness?” he wrote.
Asked by Green if he was suggesting the MGN journalists who wrote the articles in the middle of his lawsuit had blood on their hands, Harry replied: “Some editors and journalists responsible for causing so much pain and discomfort and in some cases – perhaps unintentionally – death.” .
The prince is the first senior member of the British royal family to testify in 130 years. He was speaking from the same Court 15 witness box where singer Ed Sheeran and French actress Eva Green recently appeared in separate and unrelated cases.
MGN’s trial began last month, as lawyers for Harry and other plaintiffs sought to prove that the illegal gathering of information was done with the knowledge and consent of senior editors and executives.
Harry is one of four test cases, and his specific allegations form the focus of the first three days of this week.
However, he did not show up on Monday, having only left the US, where he now lives with his American wife Megan, the night before as his daughter Lilibet’s birthday was on Sunday. The judge, Timothy Fancourt, said he was surprised by his absence.
Millions of stories
Appearing serious and speaking firmly but calmly, Harry said thousands if not millions of stories had been written about him, with Green pressing him on whether he had specifically read the MGN articles in question.
Harry agreed that he and his lawyer had selected the articles that were most intrusive and those that caused the most distress for his complaint.
When asked if he remembers reading the first story he complained about, an article about his mother who visited him on his twelfth birthday, Harry said: “I was a kid, I was in school, these articles were unbelievably unfair. Every single time one of these articles Written had an impact.”
Harry’s lawyer, David Sherburne, said on Monday that his late mother Princess Diana was also a victim of the hack, and the prince alluded to this in his testimony statement and blamed former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan.
He said the thought of Piers Morgan and his “group of journalists plugging my ear” in my mother’s letters “makes me feel physically ill and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr. Morgan, accountable for their despicable and utterly inexcusable behaviour”.
Morgan is now a high-profile broadcaster working for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. He has always denied any involvement or knowledge of phone hacking or other illegal activity.
MGN, now owned by Reach, previously admitted its titles were involved in the phone hack, settling more than 600 claims, but Green said there was no evidence Harry was ever a victim.
The publisher also argues that some of the personal information in question came from senior royal aides, including from one of his father’s former senior officials.
Harry, fifth in line to the throne, smiled briefly as he passed the waiting phalanx of photographers and camera crews as he arrived at the modern Rolls Building in central London, before an extremely rare appearance by a member of the royal family.
He and more than 100 other people are suing Mirror Newspapers Group (MGN), publisher of the newspaper The Daily MirrorSunday Mirror and Sunday People, over allegations of widespread impropriety between 1991 and 2011.
The youngest son of King Charles III He entered the witness box to face hours of cross-examination from MGN’s attorney, Andrew Green, over 33 newspaper articles Harry said were based on illegally collected information.
Green began by offering Harry a personal apology on behalf of his client over one instance in which he admitted to illegal information gathering.
“This should not have happened and will not happen again,” he said, adding that if the court agrees that MGN has committed wrongdoing on other occasions “you will be entitled to it, and you will receive a more thorough apology.”
During his cross-examination, Harry was asked about a passage in his written testimony in which he referred to “appalling” behavior by British press. “How much blood will be on their writing fingers before anyone can put an end to this madness?” he wrote.
Asked by Green if he was suggesting the MGN journalists who wrote the articles in the middle of his lawsuit had blood on their hands, Harry replied: “Some editors and journalists responsible for causing so much pain and discomfort and in some cases – perhaps unintentionally – death.” .
The prince is the first senior member of the British royal family to testify in 130 years. He was speaking from the same Court 15 witness box where singer Ed Sheeran and French actress Eva Green recently appeared in separate and unrelated cases.
MGN’s trial began last month, as lawyers for Harry and other plaintiffs sought to prove that the illegal gathering of information was done with the knowledge and consent of senior editors and executives.
Harry is one of four test cases, and his specific allegations form the focus of the first three days of this week.
However, he did not show up on Monday, having only left the US, where he now lives with his American wife Megan, the night before as his daughter Lilibet’s birthday was on Sunday. The judge, Timothy Fancourt, said he was surprised by his absence.
Millions of stories
Appearing serious and speaking firmly but calmly, Harry said thousands if not millions of stories had been written about him, with Green pressing him on whether he had specifically read the MGN articles in question.
Harry agreed that he and his lawyer had selected the articles that were most intrusive and those that caused the most distress for his complaint.
When asked if he remembers reading the first story he complained about, an article about his mother who visited him on his twelfth birthday, Harry said: “I was a kid, I was in school, these articles were unbelievably unfair. Every single time one of these articles Written had an impact.”
Harry’s lawyer, David Sherburne, said on Monday that his late mother Princess Diana was also a victim of the hack, and the prince alluded to this in his testimony statement and blamed former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan.
He said the thought of Piers Morgan and his “group of journalists plugging my ear” in my mother’s letters “makes me feel physically ill and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr. Morgan, accountable for their despicable and utterly inexcusable behaviour”.
Morgan is now a high-profile broadcaster working for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. He has always denied any involvement or knowledge of phone hacking or other illegal activity.
MGN, now owned by Reach, previously admitted its titles were involved in the phone hack, settling more than 600 claims, but Green said there was no evidence Harry was ever a victim.
The publisher also argues that some of the personal information in question came from senior royal aides, including from one of his father’s former senior officials.
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