Prince Harry has concluded his high-profile appearance in the high court, where he became the first senior royal to be cross-examined since the 19th century.
The Duke of Sussex forced back tears as his barrister asked how he felt after being in court for two days, giving evidence in support of his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
“It’s been a lot,” Harry replied, his voice cracking.
So what did we learn from today’s hearing?
There is no call data
Unlike previous successful hacking claims, there is no call data to back up Harry’s allegations against MGN.
The barrister representing MGN said that there was no call data between Harry’s phone and any MGN journalist, whereas there was call data in previous and forthcoming litigation involving other newspaper groups.
But Harry says this is because the journalists took extra steps to destroy what evidence there was of unlawful information-gathering.
Chelsy Davy and trust
As the press interest in Prince Harry’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy escalated, his evidence was that the couple became increasingly mistrustful of all those around them, including friends and family.
“We weren’t sharing anything with anyone,” Harry said of the later days of their relationship.
Caroline Flack stories ‘came from hacking’
Harry alleges that stories about his relationship with the late television presenter Caroline Flack, who took her own life at the age of 40, in 2020, were obtained by phone hacking.
He says a photo that appeared in the press of the pair in the street was taken by paparazzi from an agency called Ikon, who Harry says “stalked and harassed” him for decades.
Harry said the only way photographers would have known his whereabouts was through being supplied with information that was obtained unlawfully, most likely through phone hacking.
Disappearing mail notifications
The judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, asked Harry questions about his experience of the tell-tale signs of phone hacking, namely voice messages on his phone not appearing as “new” or the “new mail” icon on the screen disappearing.
Fancourt asked Harry when this activity started, to which Harry replied “from the moment I had a mobile phone” and added that it had never stopped.
Mirror journalist discussed hacking in email
Harry’s barrister, David Sherborne, presented an email in connection to a story about Harry and Caroline Flack.
Sherborne says the email from Katie Hind, who now works for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, contains a description of how to hack a celebrity’s phone.
“This is an email that Katie Hind, the author of this article, is sending to someone at the Mirror. We can see here that she’s forwarding under the subject ‘pin numbers’ a description of how to hack a phone from a celebrity voicemail greeting website.”
‘Tracking devices planted on Davy’s car’
The prince told the court that he once found a “tracking device” on a car belonging to Chelsy Davy. He named the private investigator Mike Behr as the person who allegedly put the device on Davy’s car.
Sherborne asked Prince Harry how he knew about the tracking device on the vehicle. Prince Harry replied: “We found it.”
Lawsuit launched after encounter in France
Harry told the court he had no plans to launch a legal claim against Mirror Group Newspapers and others until he met Sherborne by chance in France.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
