{"id":14396,"date":"2026-01-21T17:40:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14396"},"modified":"2026-01-21T17:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:40:52","slug":"prince-harry-says-mail-publisher-made-his-wife-meghans-life-a-misery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14396","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry says Mail publisher made his wife Meghan&#8217;s &#8216;life a misery&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline\" class=\"sc-3adb3607-0 fkltMW\"><span data-testid=\"byline-contributors\" class=\"sc-3adb3607-12 csUdlZ\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sc-3adb3607-8 ivQuQW\">Jessica Rawnsley &amp; Maia Davies<\/span><span class=\"sc-3adb3607-10 cTtxA-d\">and<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sc-3adb3607-8 ivQuQW\">Imogen James<!-- -->,<\/span><span data-testid=\"byline-contributors-contributor-1-role-location\" class=\"sc-3adb3607-9 gWPTDS\">Royal Courts of Justice<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"sc-536eff7b-0 gnQokQ\">Watch: Prince Harry arrives at court in London for third day of trial<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The Duke of Sussex was visibly emotional as he told a court the life of his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, had been made &#8220;an absolute misery&#8221; by the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Prince Harry was speaking as he concluded his evidence in his case<b id=\"\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 gnUCoQ\"> <\/b>against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) at the High Court, much of which focused on articles about his relationships before meeting Meghan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The prince&#8217;s voice broke as he said the court battle had been a &#8220;horrible experience&#8221; for his family and that all he wanted was &#8220;an apology and some accountability&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He is one of seven high-profile claimants accusing ANL of &#8220;grave breaches of privacy&#8221; over a 20-year period. The publisher has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The prince&#8217;s claim focuses on 14 articles, most of which are about his relationship with a previous girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In his witness statement, he said the papers&#8217; &#8220;terrifying&#8221;<b id=\"\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 gnUCoQ\"> <\/b>coverage of their relationship<b id=\"\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 gnUCoQ\"> <\/b>had left him &#8220;really worried something bad was going to happen&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He said one article in 2006 &#8211; which claimed that Davy did not want the prince to join the Army &#8211; &#8220;added pressure and created a massive strain&#8221; on the relationship, causing his then-girlfriend to &#8220;distrust all of her friends&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;It is impossible to sustain a relationship under these circumstances,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He accused the publisher<b id=\"\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 gnUCoQ\"> <\/b>of &#8220;probably wanting to drive me to drugs and drinking to sell more of their papers&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The prince also said it was &#8220;beyond cruel&#8221; to publish an article detailing &#8220;confidential discussions&#8221; he had with his family after a photo of his dying mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was published in the Italian press.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The prince struck a sometimes-terse tone while answering questions from the publisher&#8217;s lawyer for more than two hours on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Antony White KC, for the publisher, suggested that some of the journalists who wrote the articles might have been in and around the prince&#8217;s social circle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">During one tense exchange in which it was suggested that a Mail reporter might have been in the same clubs as the prince, he snapped: &#8220;Good for her.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He was interrupted multiple times by the judge, who reminded him his &#8220;job&#8221; was to answer the questions rather than argue his case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Asked why he did not complain about the articles when they were published between 2001 and 2013, Prince Harry said he &#8220;was not allowed to complain&#8221; because he was a member of the &#8220;institution&#8221; &#8211; meaning the Royal Family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Pressed again on the same point later, the duke responded: &#8220;Hindsight is a beautiful thing, Mr White.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in January 2020 and moved to the US that summer. Press intrusion was claimed to be one reason for their departure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gXrNRM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260113-125315-2e65791d43-web-2.37.1-4\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img sizes=\"(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 240w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 480w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/640\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 640w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 1024w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1536\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp 1536w\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b58f\/live\/bbafb4c0-f6ea-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Julia Quenzler A court sketch of Prince Harry giving evidence, wearing a dark suit and a black tie and speaking into a small microphone\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">Julia Quenzler<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"sc-536eff7b-0 gnQokQ\">Prince Harry gave evidence on the third day of the trial at London&#8217;s Royal Courts of Justice<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Following his court appearance, a spokesperson for the prince said the cross-examination had been &#8220;revealing in its weakness&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;Assertive in tone, but collapsing immediately under scrutiny from Prince Harry. Associated couldn&#8217;t wait to get him off the stand, questioning him for just to hours and avoiding 10 of his 14 articles entirely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The prince added: &#8220;Today we reminded the Mail group who is on trial and why.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The claimants have accused ANL of &#8220;clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering&#8221; for stories between 1993 and &#8220;beyond&#8221; 2018, including through private investigators and blagging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In his 23-page witness statement the prince said he had always felt under &#8220;24-hour surveillance&#8221; but at the time the articles were published &#8220;knew nothing of Associated&#8217;s unlawful acts that were directed at me and those around me&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He said the articles drove him &#8220;paranoid beyond belief&#8221; and made him feel like he was &#8220;part of an endless pursuit, a campaign, an obsession of having every aspect of my life under surveillance&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Harry added that the Mail was the first to publicly disclose Davy&#8217;s name and the  subsequent &#8220;intrusion was terrifying for Chelsy: it made her feel like she was being hunted&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;Their behaviour and treatment of Chelsy was not normal,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was really worried something bad was going to happen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Harry told the court he did not remember reading the 2006 article about his and his brother&#8217;s reactions to the publication of a picture of their mother after her fatal car crash at the time, but said the &#8220;disgusting&#8221; piece made him think: &#8220;If Associated was willing to publish this type of material, then it really makes me wonder how far they are prepared to go.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Information in the article, he said, suggested they &#8220;were plainly listening in to our calls&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">ANL has previously denied allegations of unlawful information gathering.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Joining the duke in bringing the lawsuit against ANL are:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"sc-6f869981-0 diUlgm\">\n<li class=\"sc-734a601e-0 cRgahm\">Actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"sc-6f869981-0 diUlgm\">\n<li class=\"sc-734a601e-0 cRgahm\">Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"sc-6f869981-0 diUlgm\">\n<li class=\"sc-734a601e-0 cRgahm\">Sir Simon Hughes, the former Liberal Democrat MP<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"sc-6f869981-0 diUlgm\">\n<li class=\"sc-734a601e-0 cRgahm\">Baroness Doreen Lawrence, a campaigner whose son Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack in south London in 1993<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">White has said the claimants are &#8220;clutching at straws&#8221;, and that in some cases celebrities&#8217; friends and social circles contributed as sources to Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">In court on Wednesday, he suggested Harry knew his social circle was &#8220;leaky&#8221;, to which the prince responded: &#8220;My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The case continues and is expected to last nine weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It is Prince Harry&#8217;s third major court battle accusing newspaper groups of unlawful behaviour. In December 2023 he <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-67332563\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"noopener\">won 15 claims<\/a> against the Mirror Group Newspapers and <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-68249009\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"noopener\">later settled others<\/a>, while the Sun publisher <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cp3wn1k6drqo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"noopener\">apologised and agreed to pay &#8220;substantial damages&#8221;<\/a> to the duke in January 2025. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Prince #Harry #Mail #publisher #wife #Meghans #life #misery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jessica Rawnsley &amp; Maia Da&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[242],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}