Prince Harry has accused the royal family of “without doubt” withholding information from him “for a long time” about phone hacking as they did not want to “open a can of worms”, the High Court has heard.
The allegation – relating to News Group Newspapers – emerged in a witness statement submitted by the Duke of Sussex in the high-profile privacy case against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers, which he is bringing alongside Sir Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and others.
In the second day of a preliminary hearing at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, the publisher argued that part of the case should be thrown out as it relies on documents supplied confidentially to the Leveson Inquiry.
The allegations – which are denied – include the hiring of private investigators to place listening devices inside cars and the accessing and recording of private phone conversations.
The court heard on Monday that Prince Harry had lost or “cut off” friends as “everyone became a ‘suspect’ since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source” of articles about him
Prince Harry claims Buckingham Palace ‘withheld’ information about historic phone hacking for ‘long time’
Prince Harry has said the Royal Family withheld information from him about phone hacking because they didn’t want him to bring a claim as it would “open a can of worms”, my colleague Thomas Kingsley reports.
In a witness statement submitted before his civil claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers, the Duke of Sussex said that he was conditioned to accept his family’s rule to “never complain, never explain” when dealing with the press.
“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 Duke said in his statement
But discussing phone hacking claims against News Group Newspapers, Harry said “I became aware that I had a claim that I could bring” in 2018.
Prince Harry has said the Royal Family withheld information from him about phone hacking because they didn’t want him to bring a claim as it would “open a can of worms”.
