Prince Harry has said his decision to fight the tabloid press has been a “central piece” in the deterioration of his relationship with his family.
The Duke of Sussex won a privacy case against Mirror Group newspapers in December last year after a judge ruled his phone had been hacked by the Daily Mirror.
Harry became the first British royal in 130 years to give evidence in court after bringing the privacy case.
It is understood his decision was not supported by other members of the Royal Family.
Months before Harry won the privacy case, it emerged his brother Prince William had settled a phone-hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers in 2020 for a “very large sum”.
Speaking to ITV documentary Tabloids on Trial, which is due to be aired on Thursday, Harry was asked whether his determination to fight the tabloid press had contributed to a widely reported rift within the Royal Family.
He replied: “Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it. But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.
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“I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we, you know, did it as a family. I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”
When asked by ITV News’ Rebecca Barry what he thinks of the decision by his family not to take on the press in the way he has, the duke replies: “I think everything that’s played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission continues, but it has, it has, yes. It’s caused, yeah, as you say, part of a rift.”
Harry described his victory in court last year as “monumental” after the High Court judge ruled phone hacking was carried out by Mirror Group newspapers 1996 to 2011, and was “widespread and habitual” from 1998.
He said: “To go in there and come out and have the judge rule in our favour was obviously huge. But for him to go as far as he did with regard to, you know, this wasn’t just the individual people. This went right up to the top…this was lawyers, this was high executives. And to be able to achieve that in a trial that’s a monumental victory.”
Looking at a headline from the time of the phone-hacking about his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy apparently preparing to split with him, the duke says: “‘Harry’s girl to dump him’ – seems as though they knew something before I even did.”
He adds: “I think there’s a lot of I guess, paranoia, fear, worry, concern, distrust in the people around you, clearly a headline like that has absolutely no public interest whatsoever. There’s a big difference between what interests the public and what is public interest, so what happens in my private life between myself and [my] then girlfriend is exactly that, between us.”
Prince Harry also speaks about his mother Princess Diana in the documentary and asks him whether hacking made him paranoid, saying: “I think paranoia is a very interesting word because yes, then it could be paranoia, but then when you’re vindicated it proves that you weren’t being paranoid. You know, same with my mother.
“You know, there is evidence to suggest that she was being hacked in the mid-nineties, probably one of the first people to be hacked and yet still today, the press, the tabloid press very much enjoy painting her as being paranoid. But she wasn’t paranoid, she was absolutely right of what was happening to her. And she’s not around today to find out the truth.”
The interview comes as Prince Harry is also involved in two other cases, against News Group Newspapers and Associated Newspapers, where the allegations are strongly denied.
In response to the ITV programme Mirror Group Newspapers said: “We welcomed the judgment in December 2023 that gave the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago.
“Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid compensation.”
Tabloids On Trial will be broadcast on ITV at 9pm on Thursday.
