Prince Harry Slams Tabloids For Their ‘Utterly Vile’ Behaviour As He Gives Evidence In Phone Hacking Trial
06.06.2023 - 17:42
/ etcanada.com
Prince Harry slammed the way tabloids have written about him over the years as he arrived at London’s High Court on Tuesday.
The Duke of Sussex’s phone hacking trial against the publisher of the Daily Mirror kicked off on Monday, but he wasn’t present.
Harry then made an appearance the following day after taking a flight from Los Angeles on Sunday after the birthday of his 2-year-old daughter, Lilibet.
READ MORE: Prince Harry A No-Show On First Day Of Court Showdown With British Tabloid Publisher
The Duke — who stepped back as a senior member of the royal family alongside his wife Meghan Markle in March 2020 — is the first member of the British royals to testify in court in more than a century.
The case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror is the first of the prince’s several lawsuits against the media to go to trial, and one of three alleging tabloid publishers unlawfully snooped on him while competing for scoops on the royal family.
According to The Guardian, Harry said in a witness statement of how the tabloids shaped how other people viewed him: “You start off as a blank canvas while they work out what kind of person you are and what kind of problems and temptations you might have.
“They then start to edge you towards playing the role or roles that suit them best and which sells as many newspapers as possible, especially if you are the ‘spare’ to the ‘heir.’ You’re then either the ‘playboy prince,’ the ‘failure,’ the ‘drop out’ or, in my case, the ‘thicko,’ the ‘cheat,’ the ‘underage drinker,’ the ‘irresponsible drug taker,’ the list goes on.”
READ MORE: Why Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s Daughter Lilibet’s Birthday Was Not Publicly Acknowledged By Royal Family
He continued, “As a teenager and in