Prince Harry delivered his testimony in court on Tuesday, in a lawsuit against a major media publication accusing them of illegal activities. The royal went on to decry a lifelong mistreatment on behalf of the british press in collusion with the government and other royals.

Prince Harry on Tuesday said he had suffered lifelong “press invasion” and accused some media of having blood on their hands, as he became the first royal in more than 100 years to give evidence in court.

Harry, 38, said he had been the victim of relentless and distressing media intrusion “most of my life up until this day” and attacked negative portrayals of him as the “spare to the heir”.

Harry is accusing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) Ltd, publisher of The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People tabloids, of illegal information gathering, including phone hacking.

During cross-examination by MGN’s lawyer Andrew Green, Harry admitted that he had no recollection of reading the majority of the articles he had complained about.

The case is Harry’s latest legal battle with the press since he stepped down from frontline royal duties in early 2020 and relocated to California with his American wife Meghan.

The prince earned a rebuke from the judge on Monday for not turning up for the opening statement in his case as he had been attending his young daughter’s second birthday on Sunday.

On Monday, Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne said that he was targeted by illegal information gathering even as a young schoolboy and his phone would have been hacked on “multiple occasions”.

At the start of the trial on May 10, MGN apologised and admitted to “some evidence” of unlawful information gathering, including for a story about Harry.

But it denied voicemail interception and also argued that some claims had been brought too late.

In television interviews and his explosive memoir “Spare”, released in January, Harry hit out at other royals, accusing them of colluding with the press.

Although the royal family are normally scrupulous about staying out of politics, Harry on Tuesday also launched a tirade against the government.

The prince has vowed to spearhead efforts to enforce change on Britain’s tabloid behaviour and accused the police and government of being “scared” to hold the press accountable.

The last time a royal gave evidence in court was in the 1890s when the future king Edward VII took the stand in a slander trial.

Khalil Wakim, with AFP