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London: Before this week, the last member of the royal family to give evidence under sworn oath was in 1891 and, it must be said, the reviews weren’t great.

Prince Albert Edward, the eldest son of Queen Victoria, who’d become King Edward VII on her death 10 years later, testified in a slander case that centred on a game of baccarat gone wrong at which the prince had been present.

Prince Harry and barrister David Sherborne leave after giving evidence at the Mirror Group phone hacking trial Credit: Getty

One of the players, Sir William Gordon-Cumming, had been accused of cheating. The prince, who had a reputation for womanising and gambling, sided with the accusers and Gordon-Cumming lost the case.

The newspapers reported at the time that Edward’s testimony had lasted about 20 minutes and that it had “wearied him exceedingly, and made him extremely nervous.” A book published in 1899 revealed a letter from the man known as “Bertie” in which he denounced the scandal and expressed the “deep pain and annoyance” he experienced because of it.

His mother was said to be angry and embarrassed. She had long blamed her son’s wild lifestyle for the premature death of her husband, Prince Albert, years earlier.

Of course, we won’t ever know what Prince Harry’s mother would have thought of his two days in the British High Court this past week. But there is little doubt her memory, and the experiences of his wife Meghan, are the reasons why he’s declared all-out war on the tabloid press.

Britain’s Prince Harry sticks out his tongue for the cameras on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in June 1988.Credit: AP

The Duke of Sussex, no longer a working royal because of a breakdown in his relationship with his brother the Prince of Wales and his father the King, was headline news again this week for the umpteenth time in six months when he testified in his case against Mirror Group publishing.

He has alleged, along with three other claimants, that the media group unlawfully gathered information at its three titles over a period of almost 20 years.

Public opinion of the popular press has been low in Britain since 2011, when it was revealed that a private detective working for News Corp’s News of the World newspaper hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The revelations shocked the nation and the world and sparked a call for greater scrutiny of media activity and more protection of individual privacy.

Harry, 38, alleges that 147 articles published between 1996 and 2010 at the Mirror Group’s titles, including the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities. Just 33 of those stories are being examined in the trial.

The stories cover his relationship with his family and ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, visits to strip clubs, a few injuries and illnesses, his military service and allegations of drug use.

A court artist sketch of Prince Harry being cross-examined by Andrew Green, KC.Credit: AP

Harry said he found certain headlines “mean” and said he would feel “some injustice” if the judge finds his phone was not hacked. All this intrusion meant it was “very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia”, he said.

Mirror Group denies that 28 of the 33 articles involved unlawful information gathering, and it is not admitted for the remaining five articles. In 2015, the paper admitted to and apologised for hacking on its front page and has paid £100 million ($186.7 million) in settlements and legal fees to others.

Setting the tone for an explosive two days in court, the prince broke with royal protocol to criticise the current British government, saying in his witness statement that “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”.

He added: “Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them.” He also criticised the lack of oversight of “incredibly powerful media companies who masquerade as journalists”.

Andrew Green, the lead lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers, passes by media at the High Court in London.Credit: AP

But over the course of several hours, Harry’s 49-page witness statement was picked apart by Mirror Group barrister Andrew Green, KC, who put it to him that many of the articles in question were actually based on reports already published by other newspapers or official sources.

At times, Prince Harry seemed shockingly uninformed about the evidence he himself had submitted to the court. And when challenged about the more difficult matter of the truth by a leading barrister, his recollections fell apart.

Take for instance an article in the Sunday Mirror which reported that the now-Duke of Sussex had separated from Davy in November 2007.

Harry told the court: “I don’t know how anybody would know that we had broken up; we didn’t tell anybody.”

However, under cross-examination he later agreed it was “very similar” to a story that had appeared in an earlier edition of the News of the World.

He was later questioned about a Daily Mirror article from September 1996 reporting a visit by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, while he was at Ludgrove prep school on his 12th birthday, and how she discussed her divorce.

The duke admitted he was unaware that two days earlier the Press Association news agency had reported the planned visit, while his mother had told the BBC’s current affairs program Panorama that she discussed the divorce with her sons.

The duke suggested the information came from the hacking of his voicemails, but later acknowledged in court he did not have a mobile phone until he went to Eton.

When asked why he’d taken exception to an “exclusive” article about him breaking his thumb in November 2000, he was shocked to find out it had been widely reported the previous day and included a Palace statement.

When many of these stories were published, the Daily Mirror was selling two million copies a day. Recent circulation figures show sales of about 280,000. But the desire for greater control of the press continues.

The pressure group Hacked Off hopes the case will be the springboard for the establishment of a state regulator which will have the power to impose sanctions on newspapers.

Even The Times, owned by Rupert Murdoch, conceded that in some cases Harry’s bitterness was “understandable”. But, the paper wrote in its editorial, while he may feel the need to dredge up the hurt of the past, he is in reality “fighting yesteryear’s war”.

“If he insists on making these allegations he must prove them. Vague generalities will not do,” it added.

After finishing his testimony, the prince was asked by his barrister David Sherborne how he felt after being cross-examined while watched by the world’s media. The prince replied in a slightly cracked voice: “It’s been a lot.”

The trial continues.

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