Prince Harry criticised former newspaper editor and broadcaster Piers Morgan of launching "horrific" attacks on himself and his wife, Meghan Markle, in court on Tuesday.
The prince is suing tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over allegations of historic phone hacking and other illegal activities to obtain private information to publish to its readers.
Harry supplied more than 100 articles between 1996 and 2011 that he claims were obtained by illegal means. A sample of these have been examined in court this week as the prince undertook a second day of cross-examination in London on Wednesday.
MGN are publishers of the Daily Mirror, a title that was edited by Piers Morgan between 1995 and 2004. In the years since, Morgan has become a regular broadcast journalist, fronting talent, talk and morning shows.
In 2021 he was involved in an on-screen argument while anchoring ITV's Good Morning Britain, after saying he didn't believe Meghan Markle's allegations against the British press and monarchy during her interview with Oprah Winfrey. The argument ended with Morgan walking off the show; days later he parted company with ITV for refusing to apologise.
Morgan, who first met Meghan before she was dating Harry, has since become a vocal critic of the couple, repeatedly criticizing them on his talk-show.
In his witness statement, released to the court on Tuesday in his legal fight over articles published during Morgan's time as editor of the Daily Mirror, Harry took aim at the broadcaster, alleging that his repeated takedowns of the couple were an intimidation tactic.
"Unfortunately, as a consequence of me bringing my Mirror Group claim, both myself and my wife have been subjected to a barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation from Piers Morgan...," he wrote. "Presumably in retaliation and in the hope that I will back down, before being able to hold him properly accountable for his unlawful activity towards both me and my mother during his editorship."
The reference to Princess Diana came as the prince also accused Morgan and his "band of journalists" of listening to the late royals' "private and sensitive messages," leaving him feeling "physically sick and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr Morgan, accountable for their vile and entirely unjustified behaviour."
Morgan has denied all accusations of phone hacking during his time as editor of The Daily Mirror, telling the BBC: "I've never hacked a phone. I've never told anyone to hack a phone."
In May, when at a pre-trial hearing, Morgan was accused of phone hacking by Harry's legal team, he said: "I'm not going to take lectures on privacy invasion from Prince Harry."
On Tuesday evening he told journalists waiting outside his west London home that he "didn't see" Harry's witness statement accusations, and when told the prince described him as "vile," he msaid: "I wish him luck with his privacy campaign and I look forward to reading it in his next book."
In the years since Harry and Meghan left Britain to live in the United States, citing issues with the British media and members of the royal family, the prince has repeatedly stated his desire to protect his wife from media abuse.
"My biggest concern was history repeating itself and I've said that before on numerous occasions, very publicly. And what I was seeing was history repeating itself," Harry told Oprah Winfrey, apparently referring to the treatment faced by his mother, Princess Diana.
In his MGN trial witness statement, Harry took the opportunity to call for stricter press regulation in Britain, using Meghan's experience as a force driving him to seek the change.
"Having experienced what I have over the last six years in terms of the constant harassment (online and off), intimidation and abuse that my wife and I have suffered at the hands of the tabloids, this sort of appalling behaviour doesn't really surprise me," he said.
"Unfortunately, without proper press regulation (which the current government clearly have no appetite for, because their friends in the press said so), it's only going to get worse."
Harry's trial with MGN is ongoing. The prince is also currently suing Associated Newspapers Limited (publishers of the Daily Mail) and News Group Newspapers (publishers of The Sun) over similar allegations of unlawful information gathering.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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