Prince Harry returns to the UK to appear in court over a case accusing tabloids of illegal spying

London- Prince Harry returned to London on Monday, sitting in the UK’s highest court to take part in the third and final of his high-profile Legal battles against British tabloid newspapers..

Harry is among high-profile plaintiffs, along with Sir Elton John and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, who have accused the Associated Newspapers group of “unlawful collection of information.”

The 41-year-old royal, who lives in California, and his fellow celebrities claim the company, which publishes the Daily Mail and linked website MailOnline, illegally spied on them by hiring private investigators to hack into their phones, bug their cars and access private records to generate scoops.

The publisher has denied all allegations, calling them “absurd smears” and part of a coordinated effort driven by the plaintiffs’ personal distaste for the media.

In a witness statement seen by News themezone, Harry said it was “disturbing to feel like my every move, thought or feeling was being tracked and monitored just so the Mail could make money off of it,” adding that the “terrifying” intrusion made him “paranoid beyond belief, isolating me.”

Harry, the Duke of Sussex, whose case is based on 14 separate newspaper articles, says the alleged illegal collection of information between 1993 and 2011 put an “enormous strain” on his personal relationships. He has long blamed the media for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car accident in 1997 when her vehicle was pursued by photographers on motorcycles.

He heard in court on Monday as his lawyer argued there was “clear, systematic and sustained use of illegal information gathering at both the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday”.

The trial will use testimony from several private investigators, who have said they worked on behalf of Associated Newspapers. News themezone sister network BBC News reported Monday that Harry was expected to take the stand himself to give evidence.

During his first legal battle with the press, in 2019, against the owners of The Mirror for hacking his phone, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to give evidence in person in a British court in more than 130 years. The courts ruled in his favor several times in that case.

“The journalists who used me and the editors who approved this knew very well that I was a practitioner of the ‘dark arts,'” private investigator Steve Whittamore said in a witness statement before the trial that began Monday. “If the information the journalists requested could have been obtained legitimately… then the newspapers would not have needed to use my private services.”

Another witness, known as “Detective Danno”, claims the Mail paid him the equivalent of more than $1 million for more than 20 years of work for the newspaper.

The editor has argued that the evidence of private detectives cannot be trusted.

Royah Nikkhah, royal editor of The Sunday Times and a News themezone contributor, said Monday that Prince William seemed “full of confidence” in his case but “really doesn’t like the prospect of being in court all week.”

Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing News Group Newspapers settled out of court with the royals, offering a full formal apology for the “serious intrusion” and a multimillion-dollar payout.

The case against Associated Newspapers is expected to last nine weeks, culminating in a decision by Judge Matthew Nicklin, whose verdict will determine not only the lasting reputation of a major media company but also who foots the bill for tens of millions of dollars in legal costs.

“If Harry wins this case, it will give him the feeling… that he wasn’t being paranoid all along,” Nikkhah told News themezone. “If Harry loses this case, it represents a huge danger for him, not only in terms of costs, but also in terms of going to trial and not trying to settle. So we have to wait and see, but the stakes are high for Harry.”