Prince Harry’s phone hacking trial enters its second day

Prince Harry has arrived at the High Court as he prepares to take the witness stand for the second day of his hacking trial against the publisher of the Mirror. 

The Duke of Sussex, 38, arrived outside the Rolls Building in central London at 9.52am in a black Range Rover and stepped out wearing a dark suit and silver tie.

He said good morning but did not answer reporters’ questions before walking into the building and passing security checks to enter the courtroom.  

Harry faced five gruelling hours of cross-examination yesterday as he became the first royal to testify in more than a century. 

He is suing Mirror Group Newspapers for damages over claims 140 articles published by its titles between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered using unlawful methods.

The royal is due to be questioned further today and his evidence is expected to be concluded by 1pm, but it may take longer.

Harry could be seen carrying a bundle of documents in his hand as he entered the court  

The royal is suing Mirror Group Newspapers for damages over claims 140 articles published by its titles between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered using unlawful methods

In his written evidence before the court, Harry said MGN’s alleged intrusion into his life contributed to ‘a huge amount of paranoia’ in his relationships.

In the key moments from day one of the trial –  

• Harry attacked the media and blasted the UK’s ‘rock-bottom’ government; 
• He described Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell as a ‘two-faced s***’;
• He said stories about James Hewitt being his ‘biological father’ made him fear ‘I might be ousted from the Royal Family’;
• He said he worried he would be expelled from Eton for taking drugs;
• He said he made a ‘stupid decision’ at a fancy dress party where he was accused of ‘flirting with a brunette’ while dating Chelsy Davy; 
• He said could not remember the details of a hunting trip he went on with Ms Davy to South Africa in 2005;
• He claimed ‘horrific personal attacks and intimidation’ on him and Meghan were allegedly made by former editor Piers Morgan;
• Harry was accused by barrister Andrew Green KC of being ‘in the realms of total speculation’; 
• Duke repeatedly said, ‘You’d have to ask the journalists themselves’ when asked how he could prove articles had been hacked;
• At some moments he had trouble locating evidence on the screen in front of him. ‘It is on the screen in front of you,’ Mr Green told him. ‘It is not,’ said Harry. ‘I think it is,’ said the lawyer. ‘If you say so,’ said Harry;
• In one exchange he told Mr Green, ‘As a chef, he would be too busy to make that call.’ In riposte, Mr Green suggested that he would have other chefs working for him. ‘I have no idea, I have never worked in a kitchen,’ replied the prince.  

In a 49-page witness statement unveiled yesterday, the duke said that he found it ‘very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia’.

‘Friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily,’ he continued, later adding that some of his friends ‘became instant targets’.

The duke later said that he can now see ‘how much of my life was wasted on this paranoia’, adding: ‘I’ve always heard people refer to my mother as paranoid, but she wasn’t.

‘She was fearful of what was actually happening to her and now I know that I was the same.’

Andrew Green KC, for MGN, questioned Harry on about 20 of the 33 articles over the course of Tuesday.

Harry was asked about why he has complained about articles in MGN titles when the same information had previously been put into the public domain by other media outlets.

The duke said his understanding was that MGN journalists used unlawful methods to get ‘exclusive’ angles on existing stories or to move the story on in some way.

Cardboard boxes are seen being carried into the High Court this morning before the hearing got underway 

The Duke of Sussex faced five gruelling hours of cross-examination yesterday

Mr Green also asked Harry about his claim that articles ’caused him to be paranoid and to distrust those around him’, and whether he was referring to specific MGN articles or ‘the general effect of all of the articles’ about him.

Harry said: ‘Yes, because … it is 20 years ago and I simply can’t other than speculate whether I saw these articles at the time.

‘I certainly saw a lot of articles at the time and was made aware … unfortunately, by the behaviour and reaction of my inner circle.’

The duke added that when information he had told to only a few members of his inner circle was made public, ‘your circle of friends starts to shrink’.

MGN is contesting his claim and has either denied or not admitted that articles about Harry being examined at the trial involved phone hacking or unlawful activity.

At the start of the duke’s individual case on Monday, Mr Green said there was ‘simply no evidence capable of supporting the finding that the Duke of Sussex was hacked, let alone on a habitual basis’ and that payment records used in the duke’s claim ‘simply do not demonstrate unlawful conduct or knowledge thereof’.

Harry’s claim is being heard alongside three other ‘representative’ claims during a trial which began last month and is due to last six to seven weeks.

The three other representative claimants are Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, who is best known for playing Kevin Webster in the long-running soap, former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.

BELOW IS HARRY’S FULL WRITTEN WITNESS STATEMENT –