Here are some photos of Prince Harry leaving the High Court in London on Tuesday, after the second day of the four-day pretrial hearings in his lawsuit against ANL/The Mail. A quick note about how Harry is coming and going – on Monday, he arrived at the front entrance of the courthouse with his lawyers and security, and the media scrum was all abuzz. When he left court on Monday, he left by the back or side exit, which is still accessible to media but (I think) the back exit is a bit more secure and the media is less lucky to advance on him. On Tuesday, he arrived and exited by the same back door. As he left on Tuesday, he gave a cheeky smile to photographers. He looks happy and free. Probably because he’s finally getting to tell his side of things – Harry provided a witness statement to the court, because ANL is trying to shut down this lawsuit before it goes to trial. Here’s some of what Harry told the court (it was a written statement, but you get the idea):
The Duke of Sussex — who is in London this week for a legal case in which he and other prominent figures are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for illegal information gathering — submitted a witness statement in which he says he was made to adopt his family’s policy to “never complain, never explain” when dealing with the media.
“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 the press. However, as a member of the Institution the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain.’ There was no alternative; I was conditioned to accept it. For the most part, I accepted the interest in my performing my public functions.”
However, Prince Harry said dating Meghan Markle made him “increasingly troubled by the approach of not taking action against the press in the wake of vicious persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles concerning Meghan.” He added that “the situation got worse” with Meghan’s pregnancy and the birth of their first child, Prince Archie, in May 2019. Prince Harry said he became aware that he had a claim against News Group Newspapers over phone hacking that he could bring in 2018.
“The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN’s phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation,” he said.
Harry added: “It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom…To this day, there are members of the Royal Family and friends of mine who may have been targeted by NGN and I have no idea whether they have or have not brought claims. There was never any centralised discussion between us about who had brought claims as each office in the Institution is siloed. There is this misconception that we are all in constant communication with one another but that is not true.”
Prince Harry said the claim was “not just about me…I am bringing this claim because I love my country and I remain deeply concerned by the unchecked power, influence and criminality of Associated,” he said. “The evidence I have seen shows that Associated’s journalists are criminals with journalistic powers which should concern every single one of us. The British public deserve to know the full extent of this cover up and I feel it is my duty to expose it.”
“It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom.” I think that too – I remember being so frustrated with Harry and Meghan in 2018 and 2019 as we could see, as outsiders, how the collusion between palace and press grew stronger and more focused on driving Meghan to self-harm or to simply drive her to divorce Harry and move out of the country. But, as Harry said, they were being siloed, they were never being told the whole story of who knew what and what was being recorded and why this paper had certain information. It’s crazy that it took Elton John saying “you should hire your own lawyers” for everything to start moving – Harry was stuck in this Stockholm Syndrome-esque situation where he just accepted that if the royal lawyers told him nothing could be done, then that was it.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 28 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 765696114, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 28 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 765696129, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 28 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 765696131, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 28 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 765696140, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
Elton saving Diana’s son and his family… or maybe better said helping them find the strength to save themselves. It warms my heart….
Ironic when the rest “complain and explain” constantly. I wonder if BP or KP will send someone to try to refute what PH says. JK is likely poised to offer help to the DM. Or did he learn last time?
I think the current case is a lot bigger than JK could handle, particularly as there are other claimants.
“ Associated’s journalists are criminals with journalistic powers which should concern every single one of us…”
Wow. He’s not playing. And to think, in the end, Harry’s lawsuits will have far-reaching, positive implications that will benefit his brother and father in the long run, allowing them more peace and privacy. But they’re too dumb to see it, appreciate it, or thank him for it.
His brother and father are deeply entwined with the media. They aren’t seeking peace or privacy.
Technically they are seeking peace and privacy but at the expense of other families. Planting distraction stories and playing with the press to their benefit.
Harry has already hinted that there is so much royal dirt being held back by the tabloids, William and Charles dare not complaion.
Good King Harry! Always looking out for others. Skip the heirs and crown the spare.
@susan Collins, AGREED!!
They can perhaps see it, but they know the metric ton of dirt that the media has on them and they know that won’t be quietly shelved. It’s not like this would mean real peace for them, not yet.
What @Betsy said! The rota rats has so much dirt on them, and that’s why they hide behind “never complain, never explain” and let the media get wilder and wilder, gaining more power every day. They send their little minions to tell lies, or info about other members to prevent the rats from spilling the beans on them. The two cowards, the king and his heir, are feeding the beast with their family and children to save themselves.
@Betsy, your right. They have so much dirt on the Royal family, especially around Diana’s death, that they dare not challenge anything printed. Can you imagine William denying that he gave the press a story about harry? The media would come back at him so hard that he could never live it down
I have a sneaky feeling that’s why he is incommunicado at the moment! And Charlie has never been so glad to be out of the UK
This is a great statement which doesn’t go quite far enough. There is still some Stockholm Syndrome because he should also be concerned “by the unchecked power, influence, and criminality” of his very own family. Otherwise, it’s perfect. Still hoping he gets there one day.
The lawsuit isn’t against his family.
This. A statement about *this case* should not include whatever personal feelings he has about his family at this time.
@BrassyRebel, him suing the press is a huge act of defiance and not Stockholmy. When he and the rest win this lawsuit and everything tumbles out about what these disgusting “journos” did, they will turn on Chuck and Peggy. They expected Chuck and co to stop Meg’s lawsuit and then she won. The mail then printed a bunch of shady articles about Peggy. When ANL loses this case and can’t force a non-disclosure, they will dump every bit of dirt they have on the RF. Harry isn’t dumb. He knows the best way to get at his family is to remove their influence in the press.
You have to understand that Harry was in that family/cult for over 30 years. I think he is doing a wonderful job for exposing what is going on. For some it takes years and years. I really think Harry will never do enough for some of you. His lawsuit is against the media and the statement is perfect.
I agree. It seems that so many people want him to throw a torch on the Institution, which would be throwing a torch on his family. How many of us would be willing to fully do that? I think Harry hope – perhaps foolishly – that one day he will have a healthy relationship with his family. I think he loves them and misses them. That much has been clear to me in every statement and every interview I’ve seen. He loves his wife and children more, as he should – his own little family. He also still loves his father and his brother. His warm smile toward George and Charlotte as the Queen’s funeral was lovely and also sad. You know Harry would be the best uncle ever to those children and could be particularly helpful to Charlotte and Louis as they grow up.
Yeah, I think the timing and words go hand in hand. Perfect statement at this stage.
He is conserned about that, but they’re not on trial.
“Gaslit” was the adjective that popped into my head as I read Harry’s statement. And my heart ached for him in that moment. It’s basically a one-paragraph version of “Spare.”
The palace has made its bed with DM and now has to lie in it, fleas, ticks and all. Rubbish attracts rubbish.
“The institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time” Whew, he is not holding back. He is not playing. Get ‘em harry!
The institution may have been withholding information, but the internet wasn’t. I don’t think Harry helped himself by saying he had no agency. Hacking a phone is pretty obviously illegal.
They supposedly started when he was 12 though. How many people have agency over their parent at 12?
Also, while he has likely known about the phone hacking for a very long time, perhaps he didn’t realize his family had evidence that could be used in court.
More likely he would have been told by his family or courtiers that it happens to other royals (Charles/Camilla, William/Kate) and there is nothing they can legally do about it. Just something you have to put up with as a working royal.
That may be why they got so stumped by Knauf when trying to file Meghan’s copyright lawsuit. Knauf was telling them not to do it, in fact participating for the other side. But the legal precedent was set by Charles that a royal’s private correspondence is *private*.
They would have seen that as precedent but still had courtiers trying to stop them saying they couldn’t file the lawsuit. It wasn’t until they stepped away and got outside legal reps that they could really move forward on legal matters.
I think it’s disingenuous to claim he could have found this info on the Internet when 9 times out of 10, the tabloid or newspaper pays off the victim before the case ever goes to trial or retracts the story.
These tabloids pay out millions every single year, yet you would be hard-pressed to find any information about who was impacted and what was done to them. Why?
That’s the issue. Not whether Harry could have found information that is barely reported, if at all, on the internet.
Because until Sienna Miller read her statement on the steps of the Old Bailey, did the general British public know she sued The Sun for phone hacking? Do we even know the exact amount The Sun paid her in damages? No.
Remember what Tyler Perry said in the documentary. That there was a lot more Meghan could have said but didn’t. They’ve both held back a lot of information.
“ “It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom…”
I can only imagine the amount of shit he has come to learn and realize in the past 3 years since escaping that cult. He must be REELING.
And I can believe those offices are siloed and not communicating with each other. Considering all the leaking and briefing coming from them they clearly don’t trust each other one iota. It’s also clear that outside of the office, that family doesn’t talk to each other either.
The mind boggles at how much crap poor Harry was conditioned to accept. Living outside that toxic environment must have been such an eye opener for him. I would love for him to go into THAT in detail someday. Life inside the institution vs outside of it.
It’s interesting that he’s talking about that – how they don’t communicate, etc. And you’re right its clear they don’t trust each other, or else they would have more concentrated communication operations. But they all have their own agendas and its just so messy at this point.
And its clear the family doesn’t talk to each other that often and isnt really that close, but thats been one of the great PR illusions of the past 50 years, right? that the royal family is this tight-knit family bc they are the only ones who understand their experience. We see them together at christmas and Trooping and there is always discussion of who is closest to whom etc.
It seems close relationships like Harry and Eugenie’s may be the exception and not the rule.
There’s no wonder he thrived in the military and loved being in Africa. He saw glimmers of what a life without the Firm could be like.
My admiration for Harry is tremendous. He was an abused, oppressed child/teen/young man who was only able to start freeing himself from his oppressors when he joined the army. He’s come miles and miles, literally and figuratively, since then, but still has quite away to go. Maybe he’s got a plan to take on his oppressors a bit at a time, tackling the tabloids first before he takes on the institution and his family, but I feel like he’s still unrealistic about how his immediate family is responsible for this unholy alliance. If this is a chicken-and-egg question, it’s the royal family that started this, and some day Harry is going to have to deal with that truth. Fortunately, he’s got the cajones to do that, and his life partner does too.
Right! I remember Harry saying that this ugly deal with the press started around 30 years ago. Around the same time Charles and Diana separated. Who came up with that idea? Who was there too? Whose image needed to be rehabilitated for being an adulterer that destroyed the royal fairytale?
I’m willing to bet money that it was CAMILLA who put that idea in Charles’s head to play ball with the press like never before. Because previously, Charles couldn’t stand them.
No, one would not believe it, but it was Queen E2’s doing, and it was much longer ago. She was heading the negotiations with the Fleet Street press barons.
The contract for Royal exclusive insider news and access to official the engagements of members of the RF – the infamous Royal Rota systeem –
giving to a select group of Fleet Street editors, photographers and broadcast media, was masterminded by Betty & her palace advisors, a good 40+ yrs ago.
It got sinister and vicious during Diana’s marital problem and the divorce from Charles. Since then it got worse with blackmailing and setting the different courts and their principals up against each other, in exchange for headlines and stories. The beasts need feeding on a regular.
Yes, he’s come so far but so far yet to go. I’m very proud of him!
@Hennyo it had to be QE2. She definitely made deals with the press for favors. It’s why Philips many affairs and love children and mistresses were never front page news. It’s how she was able to force Pedo Andy to divorce Fergie. She played a huge part in the deal. Chuck being the embarrassment he is probably justified it to her. Petty Betty hid all the pedos in their social sphere from scrutiny. Chuck and Cams made it worse bc they have done so many vile things. Peggy and buttons have done even worse so the agreement has to stay, otherwise the class structure in Britain would implode. I don’t think Harry is being soft, he’s being strategic. The rats will show themselves.
I agree. Harry is doing a wonderful job fighting for what’s right and exposing what is wrong. It’s not easy ( considering his circumstances) so I am proud for what he has done.
It’s a symbiotic relationship at this point between the palaces and the press. I’m not sure just dealing with the press will work as long as the family continues to feed the beast. People don’t want to hear even the mildest criticism of Harry who has indeed come a very long way to his eternal credit. But I will say it again. Monarchy is the problem and must be pulled out, root and branch.
He’s never said he’s anti-monarchy—the opposite, in fact. It seems he genuinely wants his father and brother to apologize and reform, to become better people. If that’s the case, how would he attack the institution? Just the press collusion part (the men in gray suits, advisors, secretaries)? I don’t see how he could make any headway on reforming that from the outside.
Harry wants his family. Not the institution. He will take the institution down if it comes to that. But I’m sure he has fond memories of he and William as kids. And even some of Charles. And he would like to have that back. But the men in Grey and all the other sycophants in the Royal Family need to go away. Harry has learned about being a family from Meaghan and his kids. And I’m sure he thinks that Charles and William could learn that also if they could get away. But I don’t think they can.
Fingers crossed that this trial, and those against Mirror and Scum, are watershed moments in terms of press accountability.
And that the Derangers and big parts of society will finally wake up to the fact that they’ve been lied to.
Coupled with the Dominion and Smartmatic lawsuits against Fox/Murdoch, one can hope that the tide is turning.
(The Guardian reported on a speech President Obama gave in Sydney about Murdoch and the division and the polarization he’s causing in and to society. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/29/rupert-murdoch-has-fuelled-polarisation-of-society-barack-obama-says )
“And that the Derangers and big parts of society will finally wake up to the fact that they’ve been lied to”
They know they are being lied to, but they don’t care as the lies support their classism, racism and xenophobia.
This. The derangers are out there gleefully concocting more lies to spread.
Prince Harry said the claim was “not just about me…I am bringing this claim because I love my country and I remain deeply concerned by the unchecked power, influence and criminality of Associated,”
With this case, Prince Harry would have make his mark on the press and his legacy to UK amongst his other contributions and service.
For me it’s the statement that the RF condoned criminal behaviour by the press bc they were afraid to open ‘a can of worms’. That’s taking never complain, never explain to a whole other level. Although obviously this case is not against the Institution, they are up to their necks in it. I’m wondering if this means he’s less concerned with differentiating between the Institution & his family than he was. Either way, GO HAZZA GO burn it all down 🔥
The press is saying Harry attacked the family. Whatever
He DID attack the BRF – no question about it. Why not live your happy life and ignore/forget about the people you called racist, I mean suffering from unconscious bias, you left behind. You can’t force people to apologize to you. And there’s no need for you to take care of -William’s kids. He has to/will do it himself.
I do believe Harry handled things wrong! He doesn’t have good advisors, or maybe they’re good but he he ignores their advice. He seems to know everything better, and has been very indiscreet.
Instead of agreeing that Harry attacked his family you might consider that, even for them, the truth often hurts. Harry was conditioned by the very people who were supposed to love and protect him to be the Royal Punching Bag and Distraction. The press would find out some dirty business about the ‘primaries’ and the revolting family would say Oh, but did you hear this or that about Harry.
And the press, liking the arrangement, will continue down the years to treat Bulliam’s wife and indirect heirs the same way! That’s okay with you?
I think he has been very strategic about all of it. Use the law and prove your case. He has precedent in seeing how the press hounded his mother and contributed to the death of a former girlfriend. British media thinks it is above the law. Well, is
it? Someone needs to challenge it in court. If you’re like me you’re probably afraid for him and his family. That’s why I pray for them.
I am SOO SOO proud of Prince Harry! But, and I really do think this important, I think the media’s focus on Harry plays a bit into their hand. The truly devastating, beyond outrageous and heartbreaking, more so than Harry, Elton John, or any other (not downplaying their trauma and invasion of privacy) is Doreen Lawrence. I keep noticing how the reporting on this often omits her name or only mentions it in passing. And this is the one that should have the most attention to it. What was done to Stephen Lawrence’s friends and family is beyond the pale. Just a friendly plea- please amplify her name and story when discussing this.
Doreen Lawrence, Millie Dowler -these are the names that the media and Rupert Murdoch (also GO OBAMA, call that garbage man out!!) are terrified of and want to suppress from public knowledge/memory.
It’s intentional that the press downplays everyone else involved in this suit especially Doreen Lawrence. If the public really payed attention to what’s happening and realized what was done to Doreen, the press would definitely feel public blowback.
Yeah, I also think it’s intentional and hope that the Sussex crew can serve as allies and bring energy and fact checking to Doreen’s story along with Harry. I don’t agree, but I think the public is much more tolerant/blase about this kind of criminality when it comes to public figures. I can’t read about what happened to Millie Dowler’s family without crying. Them thinking she was alive and checking her VMs after she went missing, and it was the despicable Murdoch media hacking her voice mail. It’s inhumane.
Doreen Lawrence is ANL’s biggest enemy in this case. I had never heard of her before reading about her in the Guardian. Briefly, her son was murdered and she believed the DM helped bring justice. They were spying on her and her testimony is their biggest fear.
They were spying on her, spying on friends who came to their home to support the family, writing stories containing confidential, illegally acquired information…What they did to the Lawrence family all while promoting themselves as the biggest justice campaigners is outrageous. I hope she rips them to shreds. Just destroys them. And I hope the British public rallies around her big time.
A soldier indeed. Harry is a warrior still fighting for his country so that these criminals will stop these harassing, dangerous and abusive practices. His family is a lost cause, they can’t be saved. I wish they and the foolish detractors realise that he is also trying to save George and his generation from the same. But no. They choose to be myopic, dumb, stubborn, reckless and cruel. The firm is an abusive institution. Harry and W were the first of their kind to grow up under this type of invasive surveillance from young. The next would be George, Charlotte and Louise and they have to face even more advanced technology of surveiling and spying. How do you grow up in that environment?
They do not care about George and his generation. Charles, Camilla, William, and Kate care about themselves, and that’s it. That’s what this kind of system does to people.
Indeed. How do you make friends and fall in love when you can’t trust? How do you fail? How do you explore? The irony that Khate “cares” about early years but those children will experience horrible years once they become teens and prey to these vultures.
Harry looks fantastic……
I think part of what happened obviously was that Harry realized the lawyers his family used were there to protect The Firm and the monarchy, and not to protect HIM. Once he got his own lawyers, his interests were the priority for those lawyers obviously and their goal was to protect HIM, Harry, and to make HIM whole, etc. So it makes sense that everything changed for him when he got his own lawyers.
There’s been talk about how the BRF is a cult and here we have another example. That’s a big reason why I give Harry a lot of leeway when it comes to discussing the monarchy because it’s not only that his family is involved, he’s been in a cult where he’s been educated and brainwashed to support the institution.
Deprogramming someone that leaves a cult is not easy or fast and, from what he wrote in Spare, Harry also has spent the last few years dealing with the death of his mother. I wonder if there will be another book when he’s come to terms with everything in his upbringing in another twenty or thirty years.
Give ’em Hell Haŕry.
But where is William now if he did that, alerting the police about the hacking? He’s one heartbeat away from the throne and he’s not going to blow that, especially is the BM has proof he’s stepping out on Kate and heaven knows what else. Remember William his mother under the bus by calling her paranoid when it came to the Bashir interview. If Bullyam were a true leader worthy to be a king in waiting he would step up and do the right thing for all involved, but he won’t. The BM dog walks him.
“The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN’s phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation.”
I think it is clear that Harry is saying that when he was in the firm, he not only didn’t have all of the information about the extent of the hacking, but also was ill-served by the family’s legal representation. Maybe he was told there was nothing that could be done. It seems pretty obvious that the interests of the firm as a whole came first.
This is in direct response to NGN’s claim that the case should be dismissed because the charges are “too old”. Harry is making a good argument here that he only recently found out he had a claim, and that this case has relevance to British society right now.
Any lawyer CBers know why this is a civil suit and not a criminal case?
I’m guessing it’s bc it’s going after the company and not individuals?
If they prove that journalists used criminal methods to spy on the claimants could the courts then charge the individuals criminally?
Yes I would like a clarification because surely burglary, breaking and entering to plant bugs in landlnes and paying MET police officers for information is criminal and there is no time restraint on criminal charges?
Prosecutors are on shoestring budgets and often wait to see what happens with the civil cases before wading into the fight. That allows them to prosecute on a lower budget, with someone with deeper pockets funding a lot of the initial discovery (which is where all cases get very expensive) and establishing that the conduct is indeed wrongful (in the face of very aggressive defenses arguing that it’s not.) It is not unusual for me as someone who litigates fraud to win the case and then turn it over to the state attorney general or even the DOJ. That also rewards the civil lawyers for doing the fight – we get our money, then the criminal charges arrive after and take whatever is left.
Because at the time the crimes were being committed the Met was in on it and they weren’t properly investigated. Also, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson were tried criminally for these acts and acquitted.
A bunch of years ago there was a story about a designer (clothes? Furniture? Interiors? I don’t remember) they invited to comment, changed her comments then harassed and harangued her to the point she lost clients, then lost her business and her home. Does anyone remember who she is? I imagine she’d make an excellent witness, if she is still alive.
Surly Gale, for some reason I thought it was a hairdresser with her own business. That’s if it’s the same person. We all know that the bm have been doing this stuff for a long while.
Oh, maybe a hair dresser, easily could be. Some kind of creative is what I remember….
ETA: Danielle Hindley I found an article on Byline Times. Couldn’t find anything under Daily ‘fail’, of course. I hope she knows Harry is doing this; he really is doing it for us all. XOXO
Harry looks like a man who sleeps well at night because he knows his cause is righteous.
He spilled his own secrets in “Spare.” The British media have nothing to hold over his head. He has executed his strategic campaign against the vilest parts of the media like the trained military officer he is. Badass.
I see a lot of comments about the public – the public in the UK is well aware of the scale of the criminal acts committed by the tabloids. The public supported Leveson and polling showed they supported a second one – that the Tories killed. On Twitter and instagram and in letters to the editor you NEVER see a British regular person, aka, not a royalist and not a journalist, defend this. In fact it was them who were baffled when CNN hired Piers and gave him a chance as a serious journalist. They just have almost no outlet for their opinions as the media is so dominated.
Dying to know exactly how much dirt and what it could be:
I mean there is the expected:
William cheating.
Charles and Camilla during his entire marriage to Diana.
All of them taking illicit funds from the Middle East.
Philip being a dawg.
Kate being miserable.
The entire palace against Meghan from Day 1.
But what is the unexpected?