The prince took the stand in his high-profile lawsuit against a British tabloid publisher this week
Prince Harry took the stand in London’s High Court, testifying for nearly two hours in his high-profile case against the publishers of a major British tabloid. But first, the court had to decide what to call him.
The claimants’ lawyer in the high-profile lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, David Sherborne, called Harry to the witness stand on Wednesday, Jan. 21, as “my first witness, the Duke of Sussex,” referring to him by the title he received from Queen Elizabeth on his 2018 wedding day.
After Prince Harry, 41, vowed to tell the whole truth on a Bible, Sherborne said that etiquette advised “you should be addressed as ‘Your Royal Highness’ and then ‘Sir.’ Harry replied that he was happy with what was used last time, likely referring to his testimony in the 2023 phone-hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers, but added that he couldn’t remember what that was.
“I think ‘Prince Harry,’ ” Sherborne said, so they settled on that.
Later in his testimony, Prince Harry was once again asked about a name. This time, it was in regards to a pseudonym he had reportedly used on Facebook in the mid-2010s.
Harry’s complaint against Associated Newspapers alleges that the publisher and its journalists used “unlawful information gathering techniques” to pry into his personal life. However, the Mail countered that, in some cases, their reporters were part of Harry’s inner circle of friends.
Specifically, the publisher alleged that Harry contacted reporter Charlotte Griffiths using a Facebook profile with the name “Mr. Mischief.” Harry denied the allegation, saying he “never used the name Mr. Mischief” and had “no idea” if he had ever messaged Griffiths.
It was also alleged that Harry and Griffiths had met at a house party on the Spanish island of Ibiza, but Harry replied, “The only time I have been to Ibiza is with my wife and son.” (Harry and Meghan Markle visited Ibiza in 2019, with their then-newborn son, Prince Archie.)
Harry said that the only time he ever met Griffiths was at a house party thrown by his friend Arthur Landon. He went on to say that he immediately cut contact with her once he found out she was a journalist.
“My social circles were not leaky,” he insisted in court.
The case has brought up tense emotions for Prince Harry, who said in his victim statement that the articles’ “widespread invasion of my privacy” often felt “creepy, like you’re constantly being watched, and you can’t trust anyone around you. It feels like every aspect of your life behind closed doors is being displayed to the world for amusement, entertainment and money.”
However, he appeared relaxed as he entered the court this week and was calm and measured for the most part during his testimony, though he was reminded by the judge to simply answer the questions and not attempt to argue the case.
Prince Harry did grow emotional towards the end of his time on the stand, as he spoke about the strain that tabloid attention still has on him and his family — Meghan and their children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
“Through the course of this litigation, it’s only got worse, not better,” Harry said when asked about the continued coverage of him throughout these multiple tabloid lawsuits. “It’s a horrible experience.”
He seemed close to tears as he turned to Mr. Justice Nicklin to say, “By standing up here and taking a stand against them, this has continued to come after me, and they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.”