Prince Harry claims tabloid rumours about his biological father were ‘plan to oust him from royal family’
6 June 2023, 15:25 | Updated: 6 June 2023, 15:30
Prince Harry claimed in court today that tabloid rumours that his biological father was James Hewitt were an attempt to oust him from the Royal family.
The Duke of Sussex was appearing in the High Court today for his phone hacking trial against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
Harry referred to an article from The People in 2002 with the headline ‘Plot to rob the DNA of Harry’ which made claims about efforts to steal a sample of the Duke’s DNA to check his parentage.
Major Hewitt’s affair with Princess Diana sparked a press frenzy and fevered speculation about Harry’s ‘real’ father.
Harry described the stories as “hurtful, mean and cruel. I was always left questioning the motives behind the stories,” he said.
“Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public so I might be ousted from the royal family?”
Harry added that his mother had not met Major Hewitt until after he was born.
“Numerous newspapers had reported a rumour that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born,” the duke said in his witness statement.
“At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn’t actually aware that my mother hadn’t met Major Hewitt until after I was born.”
He added: “At the time, when I was 18 years old and had lost my mother just six years earlier, stories such as this felt very damaging and very real to me.”
Also in his witness statement, the Duke of Sussex delivered a broadside at the government, saying: "On a national level as, at the moment, our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government – both of which I believe are at rock bottom.
"Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo.
"I may not have a role within the Institution but, as a member of the British Royal family, and as a soldier upholding important values, I feel there’s a responsibility to expose this criminal activity in the name of public interest.
"The country and the British public deserve to know the depths of what was actually happening then, and indeed now. We will be better off for it."
Court artist sketches Duke of Sussex giving evidence at High Court
Harry also says the press wants to break up his marriage with Meghan Markle.
"Whenever I got into a relationship, they were very keen to report the details but would then, very quickly, seek to try and break it up by putting as much strain on it and creating as much distrust as humanly possible," he said.
"This twisted objective is still pursued to this day even though I’m now married.
"I simply don’t understand (and never have) how the inner, private details of my relationships ... could have anything to do with the well-being of society or the running of the country and therefore be in the public interest."
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Harry arrived outside the Rolls Building in central London at 9.36am in a black Range Rover, wearing a black suit.
He walked into the building without answering reporters' questions before passing security checks inside.
The duke's case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) started on Monday, when his Barrister David Sherborne claimed he was subjected to unlawful information-gathering activity.
Mr Sherborne alleged that this started "right from when he was a young boy at school" into adulthood, adding: "Nothing was sacrosanct or out of bounds."
