Key moments of Harry’s evidence in trial against Mail publisher

The Duke of Sussex gave evidence in the trial of his legal claim against the publisher of the Daily Mail on Wednesday.

Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley are all bringing legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

Giving evidence on the third day of the trial, the duke, 41, said he did not complain about some of the 14 articles at the heart of his claim due to the “institution I was in”, and appeared emotional when he said the life of his wife, Meghan, had been made an “absolute misery”.

Here are some of the key moments from his evidence:

– Harry appears on verge of tears as evidence concludes

The duke appeared on the verge of tears as he concluded his evidence, becoming emotional as he mentioned his wife, the Duchess of Sussex.

Answering questions from barrister David Sherborne, for the group suing ANL, Harry said: “They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.”

Asked how he felt about what ANL did to him, he said: “Not great. A repeat of the past. A recurring traumatic experience.

“I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people.”

The duke later said that the papers were “in competition with each other, and now they are all in cahoots with each other”.

He later said that the “claim that I don’t have any rights to any privacy is disgusting”.

Leaving the courtroom at the conclusion of his evidence, Harry appeared emotional, sniffling as he exited.

– Delayed start and a query over titles

There was a short delay in court before Harry began giving evidence, due to issues with audio on the remote video link, which is being used by dozens of people to follow proceedings.

Once this was fixed, Mr Sherborne asked the Duke of Sussex how he would like to be addressed, and if this would be as “Your Royal Highness”.

Harry replied: “Same as last time.”

When asked how that was, the duke responded: “I can’t remember.”

This prompted laughter from those assembled in the packed courtroom, with Mr Sherborne confirming it was as “Prince Harry”.

– Harry claims he did not complain about articles because of the ‘institution’

Antony White KC, for ANL, said that the duke “did not complain and no complaint was made on your behalf” about the articles Harry was aware of.

Mr White continued: “That is because you believed, at the time that the articles were published, in so far as you saw them, that the information they contained came from legitimate sources.”

Harry replied: “To a certain extent, but I would not have been able to complain about them anyway, because of the institution I was in.”

The duke also said it would have been “impossible to complain” about certain stories because “thousands” of articles were being written about him by newspapers, adding: “If you complain, they double down on you, in my experience.”

In his witness statement for the trial, Harry said he has always had an “uneasy relationship” with the press, adding: “However, as a member of the institution the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain’.”

– Harry denies having ‘leaky’ social circles

Barristers for ANL have claimed in written submissions for the trial that the celebrities bringing legal action had “leaky” social circles, and that information also came from sources including spokespeople and previous reporting.

Responding to this claim, the duke said: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”

He added that if he became suspicious of someone, “I would have to cut contact with this person”.

– The duke claims he was ‘forced’ to work with reporters

Mr White asked the Duke of Sussex about phone conversations he had with Rebecca English, now royal editor at the Daily Mail, during which he allegedly thanked her.

Harry said he had no recollection of the calls, but that journalists were people with whom “we were forced to work with, we had to have some kind of relationship with them”.

He added that he was “forced to perform” for reporters, sometimes at royal engagements, “knowing who they are and knowing full well the kind of stories they had written about me and how they have commercialised my private life”.

Harry also said: “If there was an opportunity to befriend, through official channels, to be able to say ‘thank you’ or ‘are you OK?’, one would hope that would go a long way.”

The duke continued that he thought the job of journalists was to “get stuff out of my friends”, earlier saying: “I am not friends with any of these journalists, and never have been.”

– Harry says article about Diana, Princess of Wales was ‘beyond cruel’

The duke has claimed it was “beyond cruel” to publish an article about “confidential discussions” he had after a photo of a dying Diana was published in the Italian press.

In his written evidence, Harry described an article published in the Daily Mail in July 2006 as “really disgusting”, saying he was having private discussions with his brother, the now-Prince of Wales.

Harry said in his witness statement: “If Associated was willing to publish this type of material, then it really makes me wonder how far they are prepared to go and what else they learnt but never published because they would get caught.

“The amount of information and detail in this article would not have come from Clarence House; they were plainly listening in to calls as well as spending large sums on private investigators.

“To do that is simply shameful but to publish it I feel is beyond cruel and an abuse of journalistic privilege which I find extremely upsetting.”

– Harry defends friends

The duke has also defended friends throughout his cross-examination.

In his witness statement, he claimed that his relationship with presenter Natalie Pinkham “broke down precisely because of the distrust and it led to me not speaking to her for years”.

He continued: “It seemed as though someone was leaking these stories but I now believe that it will have come from listening in to our communications, voicemail interception and/or blagging.”

In court, Harry said he was getting “a little bit upset” at suggestions that Ms Pinkham was a source, stating that she “is not a source and has never been a source”.

Mr White later suggested to Harry that comments from the duke about him talking about being in love with Chelsy Davy while at a campfire in Botswana could only have become known to Mail journalists if someone had told them.

Harry denied that three friends of his at the campfire would have shared the information, stating: “These three people have never shared anything with anybody.

“If they had, there would be a lot more out there.”

– Judge tells Harry: ‘You just need to answer the questions’

Harry was told by the trial judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, that he does not “have to bear the burden of arguing the case today” amid frosty exchanges with Mr White.

Mr Justice Nicklin told the duke that if Mr White, for ANL, made a statement that he disputed, “then you can simply say, ‘I don’t accept that’, or ‘I don’t know about that’”.

The judge later said that witnesses “feel a particular pressure to make their point and to argue the point”, but continued: “You don’t have to do that, you just need to answer the questions.”

Mr Justice Nicklin said: “The careful balance between the public interest and the interference with privacy rights is one I have spent a career dealing with.”

Harry responded that he wanted the judge to “have an idea of what it is like living in this world”, after claiming he was under “24-hour surveillance”.