In a witness statement published Tuesday, Britain’s Prince Harry accused his family of withholding information about phone hacking from him in order to avoid sitting in the witness box and opening “a can of worms.” The Duke of Sussex made the claim in submissions for a privacy claim he and other celebrities have brought against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail. (ANL).
Lawyers for the group, which also includes pop superstar Elton John, say ANL ordered a break-in, illegally intercepted voicemail messages, and obtained medical documents. According to their lawyer, David Sherborne, the claimed wrongdoing occurred between 1993 and 2011, with some continuing into 2018.
“The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time, about phone hacking”
In his partially redacted statement, Prince Harry stated he “became aware that I had a claim that I could bring” only in 2018, in part due to the royal family — which he refers to as “the Institution”. “The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about… phone hacking,” he added. “That has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation.”
The prince went on to state: “The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms.” The prince, who lives in California, made an unexpected appearance at London’s High Court on Monday, alongside John and other figures engaged, on the first two of four days of hearings this week.
The claims have been described by ANL as “preposterous smears” and an effort to “drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.” It is attempting to put an end to the legal claims by claiming they are “stale” and “based on no credible evidence,” and thus should not go to trial. According to an ANL spokesperson, Harry “has become a serial litigant against Mail newspapers with whom he appears obsessed.”
“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,” the prince stated
The phone-hacking controversy in Britain, which erupted in 2006, saw journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World hack into the voicemails of royals, celebrities, and murder victims. It resulted in the closure of the Sunday tabloid, a massive police probe, a judge-led inquiry, and criminal charges that engulfed Britain for years. Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, has long had a strained relationship with the media. In his statement, he stated that leaving the UK was critical in bringing the case.
“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,” the prince stated. He concluded by arguing he was bringing the claim “because I love my country and I remain deeply concerned by the unchecked power, influence and criminality” of the publisher. “The British public deserves to know the full extent of this cover and I feel it is my duty to expose it,” he added. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.