The Duke of Sussex added Prince William and Princess Kate to the list of people he said he was in constant contact with, in a document filed at the High Court in London. The gesture comes in the context of the lawsuit filed against the editor of the Daily Mail, which Harry accuses of illegally obtaining private information.
Prince Harry named his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton in a witness statement filed at the High Court in London as part of his lawsuit against the Associated Newspapers group, publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. The document was made public on January 21, the very day Harry gave evidence in court.
The Duke of Sussex is one of several high-profile plaintiffs accusing the press group of illegal information gathering, allegations denied by the publisher.
The list was included to show the circle of people Harry says he was in “regular contact” during the period covered by his complaint, roughly between 1996 and at least 2014. According to him, private details appearing in the press could only have come from information obtained illegally from within these trusted relationships.
According to the statement, cited by People, Harry mentioned ten people with whom he was in frequent contact during those years, including Prince William, Princess Kate, his father, King Charles, and ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
What Harry says about his relationship with William
His brother’s description emphasizes the closeness between them at the time and the level of trust that existed between the two. “HRH The Prince of Wales, my brother William“, the statement reads. “Because of his position, the press was always very interested in him. As brothers, we naturally discussed personal aspects of our lives because we trusted each other with the highly sensitive information we shared about our private, family and professional lives.”
William’s mention comes amid the well-known rift between the two brothers, which has been going on for years. Sources have confirmed that during Harry’s current visit to the UK for the trial, there are no plans to meet his brother and tensions between them remain unresolved.
King Charles and the constant media interest
Next on the list is King Charles, who Harry says was himself a constant target of media attention. “During the relevant period my father and I were in regular contact. And he was of great interest to the press because of his position. My private information could have been found on voicemails, which contained highly personal, private and sensitive information, left on his landline by me, other members of my family and the Royal Household,” Harry explained.
Although he is in the UK at the same time, Harry has no plans to meet his father on this visit, months after their much-anticipated reunion in London in September.
Chelsy Davy and private communications
Also on the list is Chelsy Davy, with whom Harry had an on-and-off relationship between 2004 and around 2010. In the statement, he talks about the distance that often kept them apart and the private communications between them.
“Chelsy Davy, an ex-girlfriend. We met in early 2004 and had an on and off relationship until around mid-2010. Our relationship was long-distance for most of that time, with Chelsy and I often living in different countries.” it is shown in the document.
“We naturally talked about all sorts of personal things, including all aspects of our relationship, and this was often through calls, texts and voicemails left on her mobile phone and landline in South Africa.”the statement continued. “As my girlfriend, I trusted Chelsy with my most private information and vice versa. I know that (private investigator) Gavin Burrows has admitted to doing a lot of illegal activities in connection with her, which is deeply disturbing, but it explains how Associated obtained so much information about us (often before others).”.
Other names and the “rule of silence” in the royal family
Princess Kate, 44, appears ninth on the list and is mentioned only very briefly, without further explanation. “HRH The Princess of Wales, my brother’s wife”the statement simply says.
Others mentioned include former royal squire Mark Dyer, Harry’s former private secretary Helen Asprey and Tiggy Legge-Bourke, the nanny who looked after William and Harry as children.
Elsewhere in the document, Harry says that as “member of the Institution”, referring to the British royal family, he felt bound by the old rule “never complain, never explain” in the relationship with the press. “There was no alternative; I was conditioned to accept it”he stated.
