Prince Harry has claimed that stories about him in the tabloids led to feelings of "depression and paranoia" as he made a number of serious allegations against a news organisation.
The Duke of Sussex is suing publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of hacking, claiming that private information about him was gathered unlawfully by The Sun and the News Of The World between 1994 and 2016. While NGN has settled numerous hacking claims in relation to the News Of The World, the publisher denies illegal activity at The Sun.
Speaking of his relationship with ex Chelsy Davy, Harry said in his witness statement to the court: "We were never on our own and able to enjoy each other’s company away from the prying eyes of the tabloids. This put a huge amount of unnecessary stress and strain on our relationship."
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He went on: "We could also never understand how private elements of our life together were finding their way into the tabloids, and so our circle of friends became smaller and smaller as we naturally began to suspect people around, as that was what the tabloids suggested in the stories they wrote, a lot of the time sourced to a 'friend,' no doubt to throw us off the scent.
"I remember finding it very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia. Of course, now that we know that this information was almost invariably obtained by unlawful means, these friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily, which is a matter of huge regret for me."
Lawyers for NGN have begun a bid to have Harry's claim thrown out, along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant, on the basis they have been brought too late. The Duke denied claims by NGN that he had knowledge as early as 2012 which would have allowed him to bring a claim against the publisher much sooner, and said he was not consulted by other members of the royal family or shown disclosure regarding potential evidence of unlawful information gathering.
Harry described his relationship with the UK press as "very difficult" in his evidence to the High Court, saying that his and wife Meghan Markle's move to the US was "in large part … due to the constant intrusion, inciting of hatred and harassment by the UK tabloid press into every aspect of our private lives".
He added: "I would become immediately suspicious of anyone that was named in a story about me, or anyone who would benefit from that story. I felt that I couldn’t trust anybody, which was an awful feeling for me, especially at such a young age."
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