Prince Harry breaks royal tradition again: ‘Angry, hurt guy’

The controversial memoir “Spare”, a sensational documentary on Netflix – Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have hardly left the pages of the British press lately. This week, another potentially scandalous episode is expected – Harry will appear in court against the Mirror Group newspapers in the case of hacking the prince’s phone.

The last time a high-ranking member of the British royal family appeared in the High Court was in 1891. The heir to the throne, Prince Edward, was called to testify in a case of fraud in the baccarat card game, after which an unspoken rule of the royal family appeared not to appear in court for any reason. It’s been 132 years, and Prince Harry, who effectively stepped down from the royal duties in 2020 (and left the UK for Southern California with his wife Meghan Markle), intends to appear in court as early as Tuesday.

The Guardian described the move as unprecedented for a member of the royal family, as Harry will testify in a phone hacking case against the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People. The lawsuit alleges that the company illegally collected information about the prince between 1996 and 2011, which was published in newspapers, and that senior management and editors knew about this activity. The lawsuit, it is explained, is one of three distinctly separate but parallel phone hacking allegations that Prince Harry is making: the other two are against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group newspapers and the Mail group’s newspapers.

The Duke of Sussex is not the only participant in the process. The Mirror Group has been sued by more than 100 people, including former football player and TV presenter Ian Wright, singer Cheryl Cole and many others. However, the Prince’s case seems particularly noteworthy. As The Guardian notes, after years of bullying and front-page humiliating headlines, it appears that Harry has committed himself to a crusade against the media, which he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and strained relations with his family.

A similar idea is expressed by the Sky News channel, explaining the decision of the prince with a mission to change the media landscape. To this end, he is willing to stand as a witness and be subjected to rigorous cross-examination by the most demanding and inquisitive lawyers in the United Kingdom.

Unlike his previous appearances with well-known and carefully selected interviewers, the “media spectacle” in court will be a very different spectacle. There will be nothing comfortable and familiar, and Prince Harry himself will have little control over the issues of interest to the judges. One such awkward moment could be a block of questions about the Duke of Sussex’s personal life before meeting Meghan Markle. The fact is that the lawsuit with the Mirror Group is based on accusations of hacking mobile phones not only of Harry, but also of his brother (Prince William), assistants and ex-girlfriend in the early 2000s.

It is known that during this period, Harry’s sweetheart was Chelsea Davey, the heiress of a profitable business in Zimbabwe. The romance was often described as “turbulent” due to repeated breakups and rekindling of close relationships. Some time after another, but already final break, Davey gave an interview to The Times newspaper and explained that the 6-year history of the couple ended in nothing because of the constant media attention to her, which became “crazy and frightening” for the girl. For example, in September 2009 (a year before Harry broke up with his lover), Davey’s phone received a series of suspicious calls. Everything would have been fine if, a few days later, two newspapers of the Mirror Group had not published materials under the headings “Chelsea is enough for Harry” and “Parting with Chelsea was destined.” By the way, another girl Harry complained about the unhealthy attention of the British “sharks of the pen” – Cressida Bonas. Needless to say, when Prince Harry began a relationship with Meghan Markle, acquaintances of the actress dissuaded her from an affair with a member of the royal family, insisting that “British tabloids will ruin her life.”

It seems that there is ground for litigation. But we must remember that in 2014, Mirror admitted that it was engaged in hacking phones, and in February of the following year, published on the front page an apology to the victims of such a juicy and harmful practice. As The New York Times emphasizes, the trial promises to be a spectacle for the media, once again drawing attention to the details of the prince’s personal life.

Assessing the risks that all this will lead to, The Guardian media editor Jim Waterson suggests that there is a lot at stake in this case: he could lose a decent amount in legal costs if he does not sign a so-called “no win – no fee” agreement with the legal team. if the verdict does not turn out in favor of the prince, then the British press will probably condemn him even more. However, Waterson calls it Harry’s “calculated risk”: “He feels that the British press, especially the tabloids, have offended him, his mother and loved ones. And he wants to do something… I got the impression that he is an angry, hurt guy, and he can’t take it anymore.”

The best outcome for the prince is considered to be a court decision that his phone was indeed hacked by employees of the Mirror Group and that the people who still hold high positions in the press knew about it. Some of those involved could be prosecuted, which would be a huge blow to the publisher (with years of litigation ensuing) and a win for Harry. So far, 1:0 in favor of the court, since already on Monday, when the minister of Themis was ready to listen to Harry’s testimony a little earlier, he did not appear. According to the Prince’s defense explanation, he only left California on the Sunday evening after his daughter Lilibet’s birthday.