The Prince and the Press: Continuing the Discussion on Prince Harry and the UK Media

[MrsMaxDeWinter]

A few weeks ago, there were three really great long running threads about Prince Harry and his battles against the UK "popular press."

I thought I would do one that looks at Harry's current court action.

For those interested in the kind of balanced view you won't get from the tabloids, all of whom face conflicts of interest, here is the Guardian take, which is the springboard for this discussion.

It is not possible to take any of the tabloids seriously when they report on Harry's legal cases. Former editor Alan Rusbridger, now of Prospect, has observed that all tabloids covering this story are acting unethically as they have not declared their conflicts of interest: Harry is suing all of their media houses.

The only papers with no conflict of interest are the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Financial Times.

So I will be following this from the Guardian live page.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/04/diana-meghan-and-the-tabloid-press-harry-finally-gets-his-day-in-court

I do t think Harry has to prove it was his own phone that was hacked, just that hacking / UIG took place and caused damage to him

If that is the case, then the device on Chelsy's car looks like his strongest point yet. Has he provided any corroboration, plus shown that it led to published articles - or is that something his barrister will come to later?

Similar for messages at time of break up, but as the selling of stories by Chelsy's contacts has been mentioned, then this might be harder to show.

It's not very clear if any of the others have been persuasive - Harry's been shown to have been speculating, and unaware of other sources of the articles he brought before the court

Not sure that’s true - otherwise you or I could sue on the basis of the hacking of Sienna Miller’s phone which would be ludicrous. Harry has to prove his own privacy was breached by the use of illegal information gathering. He is relying on the fact that hacking of voicemail was widely done at the relevant time (which everyone accepts and has been admitted by the various newspaper groups). What he has failed to do in my opinion is PROVE his phone was in fact hacked. MGN provided enough evidence to suggest there may have been other sources for the stories relied on.

it’s not difficult to believe that students at Eton, bar staff, royal servants and the rest were routinely bunged a few quid for info. For example Harry says it was surprising how many paps were outside a bar or restaurant - but all that would have taken would be a quick call from within that bar to a contact who would then tip
off their mates to whizz along and get a few pics outside said establishment. No hacking required.

I can understand he wanted to protect his wife but he has attached himself to this case, has provided no evidence and we are supposed to believe his allegations without any proof - because he’s ‘honest’ , because he’s a prince of the realm.

No-one else would be up there getting an east ride from the QC and having side chats with the judge.

Surely he has to provide something. The idea that his girlfriends car was bugged and he didn’t tell his security protection defies belief really.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/07/prince-harry-has-no-proof-mirror-group-journalists-hacked-phone-court-told

found this useful as I thought maybe I’ve missed something crucial, or maybe he’s holding back the ace up his sleeve - but it would appear not

Just spotted he’s made The Times cartoon:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morten-morland-times-cartoon-june-7-2023-cz6wvc6hw

@tigger2022 😬😭😂

Oh The Guardian have done the exact same joke… awkward 🤣

Even the swearing on Spare!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2023/jun/06/ella-baron-on-prince-harry-giving-evidence-to-the-phone-hacking-trial-cartoon

so cringe they did the same joke! And with so much material. The guardians live updates were amusing tbf

Van Cleef - I agree he hasn’t as yet proved that hacking / UIG took place , but I’m pretty sure as I said that it doesn’t have to be his own phone that was the vehicle. So long as the info obtained was about him , it could have come from (eg) his aide’s phone, or Chelsy’s, or his brother’s

Yeah after a closer look, the guardians cartoonist wins for the attention to detail 😂

Just saw on the BBC that Harry brought the hacking case to stop the hate against Meghan. I’m curious about his reasoning here - how does he think claims about hacking (esp those which happened before he met her) will stop the hate that he feels the media and/or public have for her?

Because maybe it’s really about punishing rather than seeking justice?

A lot has been made of the fact the Telegraph and the Guardian are supposedly free of conflicts of interest since he is not suing them… but they don’t seem particularly convinced by his case for press reform at all. The Telegraph ran an editorial basically saying his complaints were outdated and if he’s still not satisfied with the new press standards… too bad.

"to stop the hate against Meghan" - I agree, @SirChenjins - I don't see how phone hacking is connected to that.
He can't control social media.

But he hasn’t brought any evidence of that either

I agree - his thought process on the connection between the two issues is interesting (or bonkers, depending on your viewpoint)

tigger2022 · Today 18:07
A lot has been made of the fact the Telegraph and the Guardian are supposedly free of conflicts of interest since he is not suing them… but they don’t seem particularly convinced by his case for press reform at all. The Telegraph ran an editorial basically saying his complaints were outdated and if he’s still not satisfied with the new press standards… too bad.

that is interesting - the guardian initially seemed to be loving it as though it made them appear superior, I noticed they had a shift in tone once it kicked off

I wonder if it's all got conflated in his mind @SirChenjins - his mother, tabloid stories, negative family relationships, Meghan's struggles, social media - so that he's seeing this as broader than phone hacking? More about truth and justice? I don't know. I can't fathom his end game.

I absolutely agree. think his hatred of the media is the culmination of much anger and many grievances built over many years. Even if he wins this one those feelings will still be there. It’s awful to watch on so many levels.

Very true. I thought maybe Spare and all those interviews might have exorcised much of this.

I think that you might be right.

All of this.

I think the evidence goes on in layers, like painting a room

So Harry has established that journos knew his flight numbers, his top secret hotel destination, and that there was a tracker on his friend’s car.

The defence says: there could be loads of explanations for that

Then Sherborne demonstrates that the paper’s Royal desk was spending an absolute fortune on PIs in that location at just that time.

The defence says, so what? That doesn’t mean they were doing anything illegal, just chatting bar staff / airline staff/ whoever up for info

Then (and this is just my imagination, obviously), Sherborne shows that one of the PIs who was on the payroll had featured in an article about his work, and boasted that he commonly put tracking devices on his target’s vehicle.

And another of those PIs was jailed for phone hacking some years later.

Etc, etc, etc.

So at the end of the case, the layers have overlapped and got so thick in some areas that the balance of probabilities is tipped

Actually, the one thing I am sure of is that Harry should have married Coleen.