The Duke of Sussex insisted he did not have a “leaky” social circle and told the High Court he brought a privacy action because the media had “made my wife’s life an absolute misery”.

Harry was “forced to perform” for journalists at official events, he said, while the royal household’s “never explain, never complain” mantra meant he was unable to speak out.

The duke said he had had an “uneasy relationship” with the media since the death of his mother. He denied using a Facebook profile named “Mr Mischief” to contact a female journalist.

Prince Harry in a suit and tie, mouth open as if speaking, against a blurred background.
Harry leaving court
The prince spent less than two hours in the witness box on Wednesday, and left the courtroom looking emotional after he completed his evidence.

“To sit here and go through this again and to hear them claim in their defence that I don’t have any right to privacy is disgusting,” he said. He appeared to fight back tears as he concluded: “They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my lord.”

• Prince Harry’s friends were ‘a good source of leaks’, court hears

The prince and other high-profile figures including the musician Sir Elton John, the actress Elizabeth Hurley and the campaigner Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon are suing Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for alleged unlawful information gathering. The publisher denies wrongdoing.

Illustration of Prince Harry in a dark suit and tie, seated at a microphone, looking to the right.
An artist’s sketch of Harry giving evidence
SWNS
This is what the court heard.

‘Never complain, never explain’
The duke said he did not complain about the 14 newspaper articles at the centre of his case when they were published because the text of the pieces made it “pretty convincing” that the information was obtained from his friends.

“That was the way the articles had been written, ‘a source said this’, ‘an insider said this’,” he said. “When you are in a situation like this, the moment something private is out, your circle of trust and knowledge decreases over time.

• As Prince Harry goes to High Court, the rest of family keep well away

“I would not have been able to complain about them anyway, because of the institution [the royal household] I was in,” he said. “Never complain, never explain.”

Meghan vitalised fight against media
Harry, 41, explained in his witness statement that his approach to the media altered in late 2016 “when my relationship with Meghan, my now wife, became public”.

“I started to become increasingly troubled by the approach of not taking action against the press in the wake of vicious persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles concerning Meghan,” he wrote. “The situation got worse when she became pregnant and after our son, Archie, was born.”

Uneasy relationship with royal reporters
The duke said before stepping down as a working royal his duties meant he had to “maintain some kind of relationship” with journalists who attended official events.

“These were people we were forced to work with. You had to have some kind of relationship,” he said. “Forced to perform for [despite] knowing what they are and knowing full well the kind of stories they have written about me and commercialised my private life.” He added: “I am not friends with any of these journalists, and never have been.”

Harry was 12 in 1997 when Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris. He said it was “beyond cruel” to publish an article about “confidential discussions” with his brother, Prince William, after a photograph of their dying mother was published in the Italian press.

Prince Harry in a suit and striped tie arriving at the High Court in London for a phone-hacking lawsuit.
HANNAH MCKAY/REUTERS
Denies using anonymous ‘Mr Mischief’ account
Antony White KC, for Associated, asked Harry whether he used a Facebook account under the name Mr Mischief to “exchange friendly messages” and his mobile number with Charlotte Griffiths, a journalist for the Mail on Sunday.

The duke said he had “no idea” if he exchanged the messages but “never used the name Mr Mischief”.

Harry said he met Griffiths once at a weekend gathering hosted by his friend Arthur Landon, but he did not know she was a journalist until the next day.

He denied that Griffiths socialised with him and his friends at a house party on a Mediterranean island in 2011, saying: “The only time I’ve been to Ibiza was with my wife and son.”

Harry claimed tabloids blighted his relationships
Harry referred in his written witness statement to an article published by the Mail on Sunday in November 2004 about his first proper girlfriend, Chelsy Davy. The headline read: “Harry besotted with Chelsy, his first true love”.

“I was never suspicious of Chelsy in relation to stories like this but I was of her friends. If I saw this story at the time, I would have been very frustrated and angry,” he wrote in his witness statement.

“This sort of intrusion was terrifying for Chelsy: it made her feel like she was being hunted and the press had caught her and it was terrifying for me too because there was nothing I could do to stop it and now she was in my world…

“Whenever I got on a plane, or in a car, I always expected I was being followed. I was under 24-hour surveillance.”

Harry said his relationship with Natalie Pinkham, a sports broadcaster, “broke down precisely because of the distrust and it led to me not speaking to her for years”. He told the court: “I want to make clear that Miss Pinkham was not a source and has never been a source.”

He acknowledged his official spokesman provided information to Rebecca English, the Daily Mail’s royal editor, to correct a report that another girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, would spend Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham.

The report had “wider implications for my grandmother [Queen Elizabeth]” who would not have allowed Bonas to join the family for the annual event, he said.

Prince claimed ‘24-hour surveillance’
Harry told the court: “I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people.

“Having my life commercialised in this way since I was a teenager, delving into every single aspect of my private life, listening into calls… blagging flights, so that they could find out where I am going, it was a time when everyone was in competition with each other and now they are all in cahoots with each other,” he added.

He claimed that foreign correspondents appeared in places “where no one could possibly know where I was” including Botswana, Malawi and South Africa. He added that it “felt like full-blown stalking and constant surveillance”.

Laughter in court
The duke’s evidence began with laughter in court when he said he could not recall how he should be addressed. David Sherborne, his barrister, asked: “Your Royal Highness, etiquette is you are addressed as Your Royal Highness and then Sir. How would you like to be addressed?”

Harry responded: “Same as last time, I can’t remember.” Sherborne responded: “I think Prince Harry.”

Epilogue from the duke’s team
White spent 100 minutes cross-examining Harry while Sherborne spent six minutes asking questions before the duke immediately left the courtroom, sniffing as he bowed his head towards the judge.

A spokesman for Prince Harry said after he left: “Today’s cross-examination was revealing in its weakness: assertive in tone, but collapsing immediately under scrutiny from Prince Harry. Associated couldn’t wait to get him off the stand, questioning him for just two hours and avoiding ten of his 14 articles entirely.”

Harry said: “Today we reminded the Mail Group who is on trial and why.”

The trial continues, with evidence expected from Elizabeth Hurley on Thursday.