Accusing UK Royals of Hiding Phone Hacking From Him, Prince Harry

In a witness statement made public on Tuesday, Prince Harry of Britain claimed that his family had kept knowledge about phone hacking from him in order to prevent him from testifying and potentially “opening a can of worms.”

The allegation was made by the Duke of Sussex in submissions for a privacy lawsuit that he and other famous people have brought against the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers. (ANL).

Lawyers for the group, which also includes music icon Elton John, assert that ANL ordered the invasion of privacy, illegally intercepted voicemails, and unlawfully acquired medical records.

According to their attorney David Sherborne, some of the alleged wrongdoing continued into 2018, but the claimed wrongdoing occurred between 1993 and 2011.

Harry claimed in his partially redacted statement that it was only in 2018 that he “became aware that I had a claim that I could bring,” in part because of what he calls “the Institution”—the royal family.

He continued, “The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me about… phone hacking for a very long period.

That has only recently become apparent as I have followed my own claim with various legal counsel and representation.

The Institution made it plain to me that the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms, the prince continued, adding that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking.

The prince, who resides in California, made an unexpected showing with John and other participants on the first two hearing days this week at London’s High Court.

The balloon popped.
The accusations have been called “preposterous smears” by ANL, who also claimed that they were an effort “to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.”

By claiming the legal claims are “stale” and “based on no credible evidence,” it is attempting to put an end to them and prevent them from going to trial.

Harry “has become a serial litigant against Mail newspapers with whom he seems obsessed,” an ANL source claimed.

Journalists at the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World hacked into the voicemails of royals, celebrities, and murder victims as part of Britain’s phone-hacking controversy, which first came to light in 2006.

It led to the mass-market Sunday tabloid’s closure, a massive police probe, a judge-led investigation, and criminal charges that engulfed Britain for years.

Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III of Britain, has a troubled history with the media.

In his statement, he claimed that the decision to leave the UK was crucial in triggering the case.

The prince claimed that, in terms of what he understood in 2020, when he moved out of the UK, “it is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst.”

The publisher’s unchecked power, influence, and criminality, he continued, were the reasons he was making the claim and why he did so out of love for his country and profound concern.

He continued, “I believe it is my duty to expose this cover up because the British public deserves to know the full scope of it.

The Buckingham Palace chose not to respond.