Prince Harry stepped into courtroom witness box Tuesday (June 6) to hold Britain含羞草研究社檚 tabloid press accountable for its 含羞草研究社渄estructive含羞草研究社� role throughout his life. But he soon found himself being held to account by a newspaper含羞草研究社檚 lawyer for how he could blame his anguish on articles he couldn含羞草研究社檛 remember reading.

The Duke of Sussex became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in over a century as he held a Bible in his right hand and, in a soft voice, swore to tell the 含羞草研究社渨hole truth and nothing but the truth含羞草研究社� in the High Court in London.

Harry accuses the publisher of the Daily Mirror of using unlawful techniques on an 含羞草研究社渋ndustrial scale含羞草研究社� to score front-page scoops on his life.

Sitting in the witness box, dressed in a dark suit and tie, Harry told Mirror Group Newspapers attorney Andrew Green that he had 含羞草研究社渆xperienced hostility from the press since I was born.含羞草研究社� The prince accused the tabloids of playing 含羞草研究社渁 destructive role in my growing-up.含羞草研究社�

Harry was forced almost immediately to acknowledge that he wasn含羞草研究社檛 sure he could recall the 33 specific articles he was complaining about from the thousands he said had been written about him.

含羞草研究社淚s it realistic, when you have been the subject of so much press intrusion by so many press, both domestic and international, to attribute specific distress to a particular article from 20 years ago, which you may not have seen at the time?含羞草研究社� Green asked.

含羞草研究社淚t isn含羞草研究社檛 a specific article, it is all of the articles,含羞草研究社� Harry said. 含羞草研究社淓very single article has caused me distress.含羞草研究社�

The case dates from 1996 to 2011 含羞草研究社� a period when phone hacking by tabloid journalists was later discovered to be widespread. It led to later revelations of more intrusive means such as phone tapping, home bugging and obtaining bank and medical records by deception.

Harry said the articles caused him to become depressed and paranoid, distrustful of friends, who he feared were feeding information to the media. His circle of friends shrank, relationships fell apart and he felt constantly in the glare of the journalists who were shaping the narrative of his life.

含羞草研究社淚 genuinely feel that in every relationship that I含羞草研究社檝e ever had 含羞草研究社� be that with friends, girlfriends, with family or with the army, there含羞草研究社檚 always been a third party involved, namely the tabloid press,含羞草研究社� Harry said in a written witness statement released Tuesday.

Green asked Harry to identify what evidence he had of phone hacking in specific articles, and Harry repeatedly said he含羞草研究社檇 have to ask that question of the journalist who wrote it. He continually insisted that the manner in which information had been obtained was highly or incredibly suspicious.

He said some of the journalists had been known for hacking or that there were invoices to third parties, including private investigators known for snooping, around the time of the articles.

When asked how reporters could have hacked his phone for an article about his 12th birthday 含羞草研究社� a time when he admitted he didn含羞草研究社檛 have a mobile phone 含羞草研究社� he suggested they may have hacked the phone of his mother, the late Princess Diana.

含羞草研究社淭hat含羞草研究社檚 just speculation you含羞草研究社檝e come up with now,含羞草研究社� Green suggested.

The attorney then pointed out that a reference in the same article to him taking his parents含羞草研究社� divorce badly was obvious.

含羞草研究社淟ike most children, I think, yes,含羞草研究社� Harry said.

But the prince said it was not legitimate to report such information and 含羞草研究社渢he methods in which it was obtained seem incredibly suspicious.含羞草研究社�

Green then pointed out that his mother previously made public comments to reporters about the difficulties her children faced after the divorce.

The 38-year-old son of King Charles III is the first senior British royal since the 19th century to face questioning in a court. An ancestor, the future King Edward VII, appeared as a witness in a trial over a gambling scandal in 1891.

Harry has made a mission of holding the U.K. media to account for what he sees as their hounding of him and his family.

Setting out the prince含羞草研究社檚 case in court Monday, his lawyer, David Sherborne, said that from Harry含羞草研究社檚 childhood, British newspapers used hacking and subterfuge to mine snippets of information that could be turned into front-page scoops.

He said that stories about Harry were big sellers for the newspapers, and around 2,500 articles had covered all facets of his life during the time period of the case 含羞草研究社� 1996 to 2011 含羞草研究社� from injuries at school to experimenting with marijuana and cocaine, to ups and downs with girlfriends.

含羞草研究社淣othing was sacrosanct or out of bounds含羞草研究社� for the tabloids, the lawyer said.

Hacking 含羞草研究社� the practice of guessing or using default security codes to listen to celebrities含羞草研究社� cellphone voice messages 含羞草研究社� was widespread at British tabloids in the early years of this century. It became an existential crisis for the industry after the revelation in 2011 that the News of the World had hacked the phone of a slain 13-year-old girl. Owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the paper and several of his executives faced criminal trials.

Mirror Group has paid more than 100 million pounds ($125 million) to settle hundreds of unlawful information-gathering claims, and printed an apology to phone hacking victims in 2015.

But the newspaper denies or hasn含羞草研究社檛 admitted any of Harry含羞草研究社檚 claims.

Green said Monday there was 含羞草研究社渟imply no evidence capable of supporting the finding that the Duke of Sussex was hacked, let alone on a habitual basis.含羞草研究社�

Harry含羞草研究社檚 fury at the U.K. press 含羞草研究社� and sometimes at his own royal relatives for what he sees as their collusion with the media 含羞草研究社� runs through his memoir, 含羞草研究社淪pare,含羞草研究社� and interviews conducted by Oprah Winfrey and others.

He has blamed paparazzi for causing the car crash that killed his mother, and said harassment and intrusion by the U.K. press, including allegedly racist articles, led him and his wife, Meghan, to flee to the U.S. in 2020 and leave royal life behind.

Brian Melley And Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

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