Prince Harry details ‘awful’ time in Australia during phone hacking trial

The Duke of Sussex has complained about his “suffocating” experience living Down Under while giving evidence in his phone hacking case.

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives to the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 6, 2023. Prince Harry is expected to take the witness stand as part of claims against a British tabloid publisher, the latest in his legal battles with the press. King Charles III's younger son will become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for more than a century when he testifies against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Prince Harry has opened up about his “suffocating”, “awful” experience living in Australia as he gave evidence in his phone hacking case against multiple British newspapers.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, complained to the High Court in London about two articles that were published during his gap year in Australia in 2003, during which time he alleges that private investigators may have been paid to monitor him.

In his witness statement, Harry pointed out that a low-key beach outing in Noosa with some friends was exposed in a story headline “Beach bum Harry”.

“It was a public beach, but not busy or popular so I’m unclear how anyone had known we were there, to be in the right place at the right time to take photographs. I wasn’t aware of anyone taking photographs at the time,’’ Harry explained, adding that finding the group would have been like “trying to find a needle in a haystack”.

Andrew Green KC, the lawyer representing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), pointed out that he had “no doubt that many photographers were prepared to look for that needle in a haystack”.

Harry also revealed that the late Queen had even sent “senior” Buckingham Palace aides to help watch over him in Australia due to the “intrusion” into his life.

“I only learnt recently that the Queen had asked one of her Assistant Private Secretaries to fly out to Noosa and take a house down the road from where I was staying, without me knowing,” he wrote in his statement.

Harry arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday. Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP

Harry - pictured here in November 2003 in Queensland - spent his gap year in Australia. Picture: Annette Dew

Harry is among multiple claimants suing Mirror Group Newspapers. He accuses journalists from tabloid newspapers The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The Sunday People of using illegal methods, including phone hacking, to obtain stories on him during multiple periods between 1996 and 2011.

He the most senior member of the royal family to be cross-examined since the 1890s.

The other article Harry referenced from his time in Australia was one published in September, 2003, which claimed he was “ready to quit Oz”.

“[It] reports that I was considering leaving Australia, where I was on a gap year, because of the level of press intrusion I was experiencing,” Harry wrote in his statement.

“The article includes a comment from a Palace spokesman expressing concern and disappointment about the treatment I was experiencing.

“I do recall that the Palace issued a statement because the situation in Australia was awful for me and there was supposed to be an agreement that once I had done the press call on arrival, I would be left to get on with my gap year in private.

“I was a teenager, and this made it clear that there was nowhere in the world, not even the Australian outback, where I wouldn’t be hounded by the press or paparazzi.”

Harry is accusing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) Ltd of illegal information gathering, including phone hacking. Picture: Daniel Leal/AFP

Harry grilled in the witness box

Elsewhere during the day in court, Harry also admitted that a claim made in his explosive memoir Spare, released in January this year, was contradicted in his 55-page witness statement tendered to court.

As the duke took the stand, questions swirled over whether he had wanted to meet with Princess Diana’s butler, Paul Burrell, after the former royal employee gave interviews following her 1997 death.

According to his witness statement, Harry had “very strong feelings” about how indiscreet Mr Burrell had been and never wanted to see him again.

“I had made up my mind about the kind of person I thought Paul was and was firmly against meeting him at this point in my life,” he wrote in the statement.

However, as Mr Green pointed out in court, Harry had written in Spare that he wanted to meet with Mr Burrell to hold him accountable for his actions.

“We welcomed such a meeting. To one newspaper he vowed he’d love to give us a piece of his mind. I waited anxiously for the meeting. It didn’t happen. I told myself shame,” Harry explained in his book.

In court, he admitted he “can’t remember” which version was true.

“The time gap between the original article and when I wrote this book was rather a large gap between the two,” he said.

Mr Green then asked: “Your position is that at the time you didn’t want a meeting, or you did want a meeting, what is the true position?”

Harry replied: “I honestly can’t remember whether I wanted a meeting or not.”