Prince Harry appeared in a packed London High Court courtroom yesterday on the second day of his legal battle against the MGN group, which publishes the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers. Harry sued the publications, accusing them of tapping his family’s phones from 1996 to 2010 with the knowledge of their executives to steal personal stories.

Criticizing popular newspapers in the UK that cover the personal stories of celebrities, he categorically stated that “the tabloids have blood on their hands. Some of their editors and reporters are responsible for a lot of pain, heartache, and in some cases, I personally say, even death.”

Diana’s Responsibilities

While holding such journalists personally responsible for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, Harry also sued prominent journalist and former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan. “When I think of Morgan and his team reading my mother’s personal and sometimes sensitive messages, my body hurts. And I am determined to do everything in my power to make these people pay for their wrongful behavior,” he says elsewhere in the deposition, commenting that he considers the wiretapping against him and his mother “on an industrial scale.” He also sued former director Jane Kerr, accusing her of at least ten articles from the time that were published under her responsibility and that caused him “mental trauma.” Kerr said in court yesterday that she did not remember the articles in question, but if she knew about something illegal, she would definitely not allow them.

“They have blood on their hands,” Harry remarked, sharply criticizing the popular British press.

According to the British Guardian, when asked in court about how he felt rereading the article from that time and speaking about it publicly, Harry could not hold back his tears: “It was very hard,” he said in a broken voice. , while he admitted that he remembers being bullied at school and later in life due to personal stories that were published without his permission. For its part, MGN’s attorney called Harry’s allegations “absolutely fantastic.”

Fire in the government too

The Duke of Sussex, who became the first member of the royal family to appear in court in more than a century, blamed not only the British media, but the government itself: “A country is judged by the state of the press and our government. I think both hit rock bottom. “Democracy has failed when the press does not criticize the government, but prefers to “sleep with it” in order to maintain its status,” he categorically stated in his testimony.

Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal duties in 2020, moving their two children permanently to the US, citing press indiscretion as one of the reasons for the decision.

He risks losing his visa

A U.S. federal court will consider information provided by Prince Harry on Tuesday to grant him permission to immigrate to the country. The reason was the claim of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, which accuses Harry of drug use. Harry admitted in his book, The Reserve, that he used cocaine and marijuana several times as a student and as a young man. Drug use is one of the factors that can disqualify someone from a US visa, although this decision is made based on a complex set of parameters. The Washington-based Heritage Foundation, which has influenced US policy decisions in the past, says Prince Harry’s “frequent public references to drug use lead us to question whether his stay in the country was legally granted.” and hopes for a lawsuit. to reveal all the facts and show “if the Department of Homeland Security favors the celebrity elite.” The decision may take up to several weeks.