distress
The Duke seemed determined to convey to the judge how distressed he had been by the various Mirror stories.
He said it was stressful going through the stories with his legal team, going through the court process and also testifying.
Mr Green repeatedly asked the Duke if he could remember when he first read the various articles.
Harry rarely recalled this, and frequently implied that his attention had been drawn solely to her as he prepared his legal claim.
He told the court, “If that means the need was somehow alleviated, then it wasn’t… it wasn’t.”
The Duke was particularly vivacious when he described how paparazzi agency Ikon “stalked and harassed” him for more than a decade.
One story that caused particular distress concerned his split from his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy, which appeared under the headline “Hooray, Harry’s Dumped”.
The Duke said it was “hurting to say the least that such a private moment was turned into a bit of a laugh”.
“The headline seems to indicate that they were celebrating breaking up with my girlfriend.”
Mr Green seemed incredulous that he had misinterpreted the line.
“You don’t mean that ‘Hooray Harry’ was a reference to the celebration that you were released, do you?” he asked.
“It’s not about celebrating the demise of your relationship.”
After a day and a half on the witness stand under the watchful eye of the world media, Mr. Sherborne asked his client how he felt about it.
There was a long pause before the Duke answered. As he did so, he seemed to be fighting back tears.
“That’s a lot,” he said.
Public interest
One of the stories in question concerned the fact that the Duke had delayed his entry into Sandhurst due to a knee injury.
The article, published in The People in May 2005, said his fellow cadets were concerned he was being given “preferential treatment” because he was being excluded from “grueling marches”.
The court heard that a few months earlier, Clarence House had issued a statement on the violation that included a quote from Harry.
The attorney asked if the Duke stood by the allegation in his testimony that he “doesn’t go around discussing any medical issues or injuries.”
He replied, “Yes, that is absolutely correct.”
Mr Green then turned to an article published the same day in the Independent and asked the Duke if he accepted that there was some public interest in a story about his preferential treatment.
Harry replied, “No, I don’t.
“I don’t think it has affected the well-being of society.”
What did he then consider a legitimate public interest story about him?
The Duke said he would speculate.
“Could you speculate?” asked Mr. Green.
“A life-threatening injury?” he replied. “I’m sure there are others.”
Chelsy Davy
The Duke denied that his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy believed he “loved the army more than she did”.
He denied “hanging out” with Astrid Harbord, a public relations manager, in a box in Twickenham and addressed claims that Ms Davy was angry after his visit to a London strip club.
Harry said it was “virtually wrong” that “one of the girls who had been asked to dance for him at Spearmint Rhino was a “tall, statuesque blonde who was more than a passing reference to Prince Harry’s girlfriend Chelsy Davy having”.
He told the court that he once found a tracking device on Ms Davy’s car in South Africa and that his close friend and former employee Mark Dyer also found a tracking device on his car.
He told the court of Ms Davy: “This is a former friend who now has her own family and this process is as distressing for me as it is for her.”
Elsewhere, the Duke told the court that “at a certain point Chelsy and I did not share with anyone out of distrust.”
He said it was “very suspicious” that the Mirror had Ms Davy’s phone number.
“I don’t think she would give the Mirror Group or any journalist her number,” he said.
The Duke was also asked for a “short story” detailing how he dropped Mrs Davy off near Kensington Palace.
“[Photographers] “I’ve only been there for pretty much emergencies or big royal family moments, whether it’s a wedding, engagement, hospital visits or something like that,” he told the court.
“Knowing that there was a photographer standing there waiting is highly suspicious.”
Caroline Flak
The only story the Duke could clearly remember was his friendship with Caroline Flack, the late TV presenter.
He said the photographers who photographed the couple in 2009 “followed and harassed us for well over a decade,” adding, “I say ‘us’ because they picked on my brother, too.”
In his testimony, he referred to Ms Flack as “a friend of mine” and said they met around 2009 and “attended some social events together”.
He recalled being “shocked and angry” when the Mirror published the photos, realizing they were “waiting” for the couple to arrive.
In Spare, the Duke wrote of how “relentless abuse by the press” had “finally broken” Ms Flack, who took her own life aged 40 three years ago.
In his testimony, he claimed tabloids had “blood” on their hands.
MGN continues to defend the lawsuit.
