PRINCE Harry today broke down in court as he admitted a gruelling seven-hour probe into his own phone hacking allegations was “a lot”.
Five more inconsistencies in the Duke of Sussex’s case against Mirror Group Newspaper’s can be revealed after he was grilled over details in a string of articles.
The Duke of Sussex’s testimony struggled to stand up to scrutiny as he was cross-examined over his claims across two days
The duke’s testimony has struggled to stand up to scrutiny as he was cross-examined over his claims across two days, with the prince admitting 18 times in three hours “I don’t know”.
The 38-year-old – who flew in from his home in LA on Sunday to attend the trial today – had shared a 55-page bombshell brief as part of the phone hacking trial against the Mirror Group papers.
In it, he made dramatic claims that his relationship with Chelsy Davy had been “doomed” due to press coverage, feared he would be “ousted” from the Royal Family over rumours Major James Hewitt was his dad and that the British government had reached “rock bottom”.
In his submission, of 200 points, he also claimed he was called “the ‘thicko’, the ‘cheat’, the ‘underage drinker’, the ‘‘irresponsible drug taker'” during his teenage years.
Harry added: “I thought that… I may as well ‘do the crime’, so to speak.”
But after the gruelling seven-hour session with Mirror group lawyer Andrew Green KC ended today, Prince Harry’s voice broke and he choked back tears as he revealed “it’s a lot”.
Yesterday, Prince Harry answered questions on whether reporters could have spoken to a source to get information on flight times during a holiday with then-girlfriend Chelsy – rather than hacking phones.
He replied: “I’m unsure. It could be phone hacking, blagging, of course security, Chelsy and numerous other people would be in the knowledge.”
Other inconsistencies in his claims included: that details in articles came from official interviews; confusion over whether he did or didn’t want to meet with Princes Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell; and the fact he didn’t even own a mobile phone when one of the articles was published.
Again today, five more inconsistencies came to light during the duke’s second day on the stand, including:
BREAK UP
Prince Harry called a November 2007 article about his split with ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy “hurtful” because it was titled ‘Horray Harry’s Dumped’.
The story reported that the duke went to west London nightclub Amika and “drowned his sorrows” over the split, with Harry complaining over its alleged use of his private information.
But Mr Green pointed out there was a front page article in the News of the World on the same day which reported on the breakup.
In the Mirror article, he says, there are “only two references to the breakup” – and that the information about the split and the quote are “very similar” to the News of the World’s reporting earlier in the day.
He made dramatic claims that his relationship with Chelsy Davy had been doomed due to press coverage. Pictured in 2008
LAP DANCER
After a trip to strip club Spearmint Rhino Prince Harry accused the Mirror group of unlawful information gathering for its 2006 article Prince of Lapland.
It told how Harry was ticked off by his ex girlfriend Chelsy Davy for enjoying a dance with a “statuesque blonde” who sat in his lap.
Mr Green asked Prince Harry whether there was “any evidence or was it pure speculation” that this story came from phone hacking. He denied speculating.
Mr Green said the article did not add “anything of substance that hadn’t already been put in or implied in other articles”.
He also mentioned a £100 payment to a freelance journalist in relation to the story and a quote from the lap dancer, which he says are not particularly suspicious as evidence of unlawful information gathering.
KNEE INJURY
Prince Harry accused the Mirror of unlawful information gathering over reports of a knee injury in 2005.
One article called ‘Harry Carry’ detailed how a knee injury was hampering his time at Sandhurst.
He claimed in his witness statement there were quotes from “insiders” about his injury and treatment.
But Mr Green revealed Clarence House had already included details of the injury in a press release in 2004.
Prince Harry brought the article to light in an amendment. When Mr Green asked why he said: “That’s a question for my legal team.”
The duke said: “I was not going around discussing medical issues of injuries.”
But Mr Green pointed out Prince Harry had previously publicly discussed his injury.
The 2004 press release featured quotes from Prince Harry on his disappointment not to be entering Sandhurst that year because of his knee injury.
CHELSY DAVY NAMED
In 2004 Harry’s relationship with ex-girlfriend Chelsy became public knowledge.
An article called Harry Is A Chelsy Fan was published in the Mirror on November 29, which Prince Harry claimed contained details of his new relationship that could only have been found through illegal means.
The article featured quotes from construction workers who described seeing the prince with “a blonde”.
Witnesses said the girl was called Kelsey or Chelsy and Mirror reporters set to finding out who she was.
Yet, The Mail On Sunday broke the story of her full name first, and it was only once that dropped that there was a flurry of other articles, including the Mirror story Prince Harry suggested had been revealed from phone hacking.
When asked why Harry hadn’t sued other newspapers that published the story, including the Daily Star and Record, he said: “I don’t believe there was industrial scale phone hacking at those publications. I have no reason. I’m busy with other litigation.”
In his witness statement he wrote: “I can’t understand how any of media could understand where we were or who she was.”
But the Mirror used witnesses to discover who she was and then used details covered by the Mail On Sunday.
Mr Green said: “Her identity and the relationship were already in the public domain. Of course the Mail On Sunday articles contain considerably more details than the mirror article.”
GIRLFRIEND DROP OFF
Harry dropped Chelsy off after she spent the night at Kensington Palace, according to a December 2007 article which included a paparazzi photograph.
Prince Harry said the image was “suspicious” because he didn’t understand how the photographer came to be at the gates at the right time.
Andrew Green KC suggested that was something “anyone could have observed”.
The barrister asked whether there were often photographers outside the palace, to which Harry said: “They were only there for pretty much emergencies or big moments of the royal family – weddings, engagements, hospital visits.”
Mr Green said: “There were there on this occasion”, to which Harry replied: “That is why it’s suspicious, my lord.”
The duke added: “This to me is incredibly suspicious as I say. She spent the night with me, I was dropping her off as close to Kensington High Street as I could get without being seen.
“To know that a photographer was there for us, waiting, was highly suspicious.”
The duke said he suspected he had seen the article at the time of publication as he believed his security team would have alerted him to it.
Prince Harry’s broke down in the stand
Lawyer for the defence Andrew Green KC grilled the duke for hours
