Prince Harry Gets Emotional in Court, Testifies Against Daily Mail Over Privacy Invasion

Prince Harry entered the witness box Wednesday for his testimony against the publisher of the Daily Mail in the final round of his battle against the British tabloids. The high-profile proceeding marked a historic moment in British royal legal history, with the second time testifying after he bucked House of Windsor tradition and became the first senior royal to testify in a court in well over a century when he took the stand in his similar lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2023.

A Landmark Legal Battle Unfolds

The estranged royal leads a group of seven high-profile claimants, including Elton John and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost in a privacy lawsuit against one of Britain's biggest news organizations, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL). They have accused the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday newspapers, of using unlawful methods to snoop on them for sensational headlines, including the tapping and hacking of phones and obtaining private medical and financial records through deception, chiefly between 1993 and 2011.

The lawsuit centers on specific allegations against the tabloid empire. The prince's case centres on 14 articles his legal team says were the product of unlawful information gathering, including by hacking voicemail messages, bugging phone landlines and obtaining private information by deception, known as "blagging."

Emotional Testimony About Impact on Family

Prince Harry struck a defensive tone at the start of his testimony on Wednesday against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid newspaper and left the witness box hours later on the brink of tears. After disputing that reporters used legitimate sources to publish revealing details of his life, he provided an emotional glimpse into the toll that a life in the spotlight and his battle against the British media had taken on him and his family.

The most powerful moment came when Harry discussed the impact on his wife. Prince Harry held back tears as he said the Daily Mail had made his wife Meghan's life "an absolute misery," during his appearance in the witness box on Wednesday at London's High Court in his privacy lawsuit against the paper's publisher. Harry said in his 23-page witness statement that he was distressed and disturbed by intrusions by the Daily Mail into his early life, and it made him "paranoid beyond belief."

Confronting Publisher Denials and Media Scrutiny

ANL has strenuously denied the allegations and called them "preposterous smears" before the hearing began on Monday. During cross-examination, Harry firmly disputed the defense's suggestion that journalists obtained information through legitimate social connections. "For the avoidance of doubt, I am not friends with any of these journalists and I never have been," Harry said in often tetchy exchanges with White. "My social circles were not leaky. I want to make that absolutely clear."

His curt replies and efforts to explain what it's like living under what he called "24-hour surveillance" eventually brought the intervention of the judge, who told him not to argue with the defense lawyer.

The Burden of Royal Silence

Harry explained why he could not publicly complain about the coverage during his time as an active royal. When asked in court Wednesday why he had not complained in real time about articles published by Associated Newspapers, Harry replied that he could not because of his position in the royal family at the time. "I wasn't able to complain because of institution I was in," Harry said. "It would have been very difficult. Never complain and never explain."

This constraint reflects decades of royal tradition, one he believes prevented accountability for media misconduct. In his witness statement, Harry also invoked his late mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, at the age of 36, while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris. "Following the death of my mother in 1997 when I was 12 years old and her treatment at the hands of the press, I have always had an uneasy relationship with them," the statement read.

A Call for Accountability and Apology

Despite his determination to pursue the lawsuit, Harry expressed frustration with the process. Despite having brought the lawsuit and pushed for a trial for accountability, Harry said it was "fundamentally wrong to put all of us through this again" when all he wanted was an apology. "I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialized by these people," he said.

Harry traveled to the U.K. from his home in California to testify in the case. The nine-week trial represents the latest chapter in his ongoing battle with the British press, one that has defined his adult life and influenced major decisions including his departure from senior royal duties in 2020.

Setting Precedent for Royal Legal Action

Harry's willingness to testify in court has broken significant royal protocol. The prince broke with tradition in 2023, when he became the first senior royal in 130 years to give evidence in court during a lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People tabloids. King Edward VII had been the last to do so when he testified as a witness in part of a divorce case in 1870 and 20 years later in a slander trial over a card game, both while he was Prince of Wales and before he became king.

The outcome of this landmark case could have far-reaching implications for media regulation and privacy protections in the United Kingdom, potentially setting new standards for how tabloid publishers operate and hold themselves accountable.