On Wednesday, Prince Harry faced an intense inquiry about his past, particularly a controversial 2006 visit to a strip club, during his second day of testimony in a legal battle against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). RadarOnline.com reported the details of this first-of-its-kind appearance by a royal in court in over 100 years.
The inquiry, led by MGN's attorney Andrew Green, delved into the Duke of Sussex's long-ago visit to the Spearmint Rhino strip club in Berkshire, an incident which had been featured in a Sunday People article by MGN.
The article, "Chel Shocked," conveyed that Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry's girlfriend at the time, was incensed upon learning about his night out.
Harry, during his testimony, quoted the article saying it reported that Chelsy had "let rip in a string of phone calls" and quoted a "highly placed source" stating she had gone "berserk," and even slammed the phone down due to her fury. The Prince then contradicted these claims by stating that Chelsy, to his memory, was not furious about the event.
Prince Harry further argued that the article's precise detailing of the phone call duration and timing suggested the possibility of MGN journalists having unauthorized access to their phone records. He expressed suspicions over how MGN could have possibly known about their private conversation, doubting that Chelsy would ever divulge personal matters to the media.
The Duke of Sussex alleged that the Mirror Group Newspapers had somehow obtained Davy's phone records, thereby suggesting the destruction of significant evidence. His second day on the stand primarily revolved around his past relationship.
In a separate question, Harry was asked to comment on a 2007 BBC article that purportedly quoted a Palace source stating that he had "monumental" fights with Chelsy. Responding to this, the Prince voiced his suspicion about the said Palace source, stating he never discussed his relationship details with the Palace.
The Prince further insinuated that the BBC's source might have been illegitimately obtained phone data, an accusation Andrew Green dismissed as pure speculation.
As reported by RadarOnline.com, the Prince's ongoing lawsuit against MGN alleges the unlawful gathering of information, including hacking his phone voicemails and employing private investigators from 1995 to 2011, when Piers Morgan was in charge.
Prince Harry estimates that approximately 140 articles published by MGN between 1996 and 2010 involved unlawfully gathered information.
MGN, however, continues to refute all allegations.
