Prince Harry blames tabloids for 'inciting hatred' - and casting him as a 'thicko' and 'playboy'
msn.comPrince Harry has blamed the tabloid press for "inciting hatred and harassment" in his private life, saying he ended up "playing up to a lot of the headlines" when he was cast as a "playboy prince" as a young royal. Details of Harry's accusations against the publisher of the Mirror newspaper have been released in his witness statement as he begins giving evidence in court.
The Duke of Sussex wrote: "I genuinely feel that in every relationship that I've ever had - be that with friends, girlfriends, with family or with the army, there's always been a third party involved, namely the tabloid press. "He said he was bringing the claim "to hold people to account for what they have done, so that they can't hide behind their own institution or organisation", and that he was "determined to get to the bottom of it once and for all".
Because of the personality he had been portrayed as, every time he walked into a room he "expected people to be thinking 'he's obviously going to fail this test, because he's a thicko'. "Harry, 38, is suing the publisher, attempting to prove that reporters for the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People titles were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called "blagging" or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators, between 1996 and 2010.
MGN is contesting the claims and has either denied or not admitted each of them. The publisher also argues that some of the claimants have brought their legal action too late.
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