2023-06-05 23:31:17
Prince Harry wants to take the witness stand today to make serious allegations against the British tabloid press. They would have spied on him and many others for years.
Yesterday, Prince Harry did not appear in court, to the astonishment of the judge. Today will be different. The BBC speaks of Harry’s High Noon in the High Court. King Charles III’s son. takes the witness stand. He wanted it that way. Harry seeks confrontation with the tabloids he hates so much.
He’s not alone in this. In fact, this case is a civil class action lawsuit involving over one hundred people. Four appear in court, Harry being the most prominent of them. The trial is about the allegation of spying between 1993 and 2011.
Back then, some newspapers, certainly the publishers, believed they were above the law, says Nathan Sparkes of Hacked Off, a campaign that fights for an accountable press.
“Anything was possible as long as you didn’t admit it”
In the specific case, the publisher Mirror Group Newspapers, which publishes the tabloids “Daily Mirror” and “Sunday Mirror”, is accused. He is accused of having procured data and information illegally – with the knowledge of the executive floors.
While the publisher rejects the allegations, Dan Evans paints a very different picture. Evans has been convicted of illegal data gathering. The reporter hacked phones for the Sunday Mirror between 2003 and 2005. In an interview with the ARD-Studio London like this: “I can only describe it as the wild west. Anything was possible as long as you didn’t admit it.”
Prince Harry: Methods have triggered depression and paranoia
In Harry’s case, a selection of 33 newspaper articles should show that the newspapers had information at the time that they actually could not have had. The prince accused the Mirror Group of spying on his relationship with his then-girlfriend Chelsy, and the publisher’s methods triggered depression and paranoia in him.
Apparently, Harry got to the point where he didn’t know who he could trust anymore, because private things kept coming out and he had to assume that someone had leaked it.
The Mirror Group’s lawyer says it was the same. A lot of information is said to have come from the royal family itself or their employees.
Harry an unpleasant plaintiff
As a plaintiff, Prince Harry is very uncomfortable with The Mirror and the other tabloids he is suing. Because the 38-year-old not only attracts a lot of attention, but has also already refused to make a comparison. Dan Evans: “What’s special about Prince Harry being here is that he has the means and the motive to see this through.”
It will still be tough for Harry, at least that’s what many who know what cross-examination means predict. There’s a world of difference between being interviewed by a journalist and being grilled by an opposing lawyer.
Observers are sure that the publisher’s lawyers will try to undermine Harry’s credibility. At the same time, the prince will have to provide very detailed information about very private moments in his life – so that it is possible to understand who knew what under which circumstances at certain times and what not.
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