What is Prince Harry saying about Piers Morgan in his witness statement against the Mirror News Group?

Although Prince Harry missed the first day in London’s High Court after he celebrated his daughter Princess Lilibet’s birthday, the Duke of Sussex appeared at the court on Tuesday to testify against the Mirror News Group.

Prince Harry’s 50-page witness statement marked the first time in 132 years since a senior British royal took to the stand, but while Edward VIII looked to clear his name following a scandalous card game in the 1890s, Prince Harry’s court appearance highlights a far bigger issue in the world of British media.

The 39-year-old alongside 100 other high-profile celebrities are suing the Mirror following an alleged phone hacking scandal among other unlawful activities, which for Prince Harry not only played a ‘disruptive role’ when he was growing up but also harmed many of his relationships.

One name at the centre of Prince Harry’s witness statement is Piers Morgan, who served as editor of the News of the World between 1994 and 1995 before editing the Daily Mirror until 2004 when he was ultimately fired.

Prince Harry, who has a long-term turbulent relationship with the television presenter, mentioned Morgan three times in his 50-page witness statement in the hope to ‘hold him to account’.

The first instance where Piers Morgan was named was on pages 11 and 12 when Prince Harry alludes to the fact that Piers ‘knew about, encouraged and concealed’ the illegal targeting of the late Princess Diana including phone calls and messages being hacked into.

Prince Harry states: “All three letters were written under Piers Morgan’s editorship of the Daily Mirror and he even admits on page 122 of his book entitled, ‘The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade,’ that…I’d heard rumours that Diana had been secretly comforting [Barrymore].”

The Duke of Sussex continued: “The thought of Piers Morgan and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages (in the same way they have me) and then having given her a ‘nightmare time’ three months prior to her death in Paris, makes me physically sick and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr Morgan, accountable for their vile and entirely unjustifiable behaviour.”

Later in his witness statement, Prince Harry remarked that upon bringing his claims against the Mirror Group, he and his wife Meghan Markle have been ‘subjected to a barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation from Piers Morgan’ as seen by his comments on TV and in his interview with Amol Rajan.

For reference, Piers has publicly branded Harry a ‘traitor’ since he moved away from the royal family and headed across the pond, a ‘surly spoiled brat’ in relation to his short appearance at the King’s Coronation and ‘bitter’ as opposed to his commendation for Prince William’s manner throughout.

Therefore, despite the unwritten rule that journalists should remain unbiased when reporting, through his time on TV and as editors of newspapers, it seems that Piers has chosen in favour of the Heir over the Spare.