Here, Prince Harry on the stand Wednesday in London’s High Court. Throughout his testimony, in his ongoing public lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail. His case was filed in January of 2026. It alleges that ANL engaged in Chandler-style illegal acts, including the hiring of private investigators to place listening devices in cars and intercepting private communications.
The Duke of Sussex has seen, and is not fighting, this legal battle alone. He’s joined by an impressive cohort of heavyweights, including Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Simon Hughes and actresses Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley. Collectively, they allege that ANL ran a coordinated campaign of illegal information collection that invaded their privacy.
In his witness statement last week, Prince Harry spoke candidly about his long-standing “difficult relationship” with the press. He mused upon his former policy of “never complain, never explain” from his days as a royal family member. During a recent interview, Prince Harry opened up about how constant media attention has changed the course of his life and that of wife Meghan Markle.
“I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people,” Prince Harry stated during his testimony.
This case represents an historic challenge to royal prerogative. This makes her the first member of the British royal family to give testimony as a witness in court since Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII) in 1891. The Duke has now sued a number of media outlets including Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers and the Mirror Group. In December 2023, he won a landmark victory at the UK High Court against the Mirror Group.
When he gave his testimony, Prince Harry was obviously very emotional. He eloquently spoke on the media’s invasion where Meghan Markle’s life has become, through this intrusion, “a complete misery.” His comments resonate on a continuing level with many of the concerns that he and others expressed at the time about media ethics and privacy violations.
As the proceedings unfolded, a source close to the Duke criticized ANL’s legal strategy, stating, “ANL, publishers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, and their legal team, have had months to inform the court that their opening argument would last less than two hours. Instead, they have had to resort to game playing and dirty tricks – consistent with the way they have treated not just the Duke but all of the victims in this case.”
This landmark trial against ANL will conclude in March 2026. The court then determines claims and defenses from the bench and provides a written judgment later. Prince Harry during his third and final day of testimony. Finally, he was asked how he would like to be addressed in court, which led to an animated debate about his proposed royal title.
