Prince Harry's 'life's work' is taking him where no British royal has gone for over a century - here's everything we know

Prince Harry's 'life's work' described as a 'suicide mission' by his father, according to the Prince, but nevertheless he's not giving up

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice on March 30, 2023 in London, England. Prince Harry is one of several claimants in a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail.
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Prince Harry will have his day in court as it's confirmed that the King's second son will take to the stand in his ongoing legal battle against Mirror Group Newspapers. The Prince is among 100 other high-profile individuals suing the publishers for alleged unlawful behavior and phone hacking. 


Prince Harry leaves after the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England. The Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms takes place at Westminster Abbey today. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II.

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It's been revealed that the Prince is due to give evidence in the British High Court this week, as a part of the ongoing trial against MGN. The Prince alleges, per the Telegraph, that, "about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial."

By giving evidence in the trial against MGN, he's opening himself up to the potential of a tough cross-examination from their legal team. It's been over 130 years since a senior member of the British Royal Family gave evidence in court. The last time this happened was in 1891 when Edward VII, before he became King, was a witness in a slander trial over a card game.

According to the Guardian, this lawsuit is one of, "three entirely separate but concurrent phone-hacking claims that Prince Harry is making: the other two are against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, and the Mail newspapers."

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Princess Diana and Prince Harry attend a ceremony in Hyde Park to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day on May 7, 1995 in London, England.

(Image credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

The Prince previously appeared in the British High Court back in March 2023 as legal proceedings began in a phone-tapping and privacy case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

During the preliminary hearing against ANL, a statement read by the royal's legal team made many claims, including Prince Harry said he lost friends amid 'suspicion and paranoia' over 'unlawful articles.'

In recent years, the Prince has opened up about traumatic experiences in his life, including his mother Princess Diana's tragic death in 1997, and his disdain for the British tabloid press. 

Speaking to Tom Bradby on ITV before the publication of his memoir Spare, the Prince opened up about his, "mission of changing the media landscape in the UK."

Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (L) and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, speak together as they applaud while attending the annual One Young World Summit at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, north-west England on September 5, 2022. - The One Young World Summit is a global forum for young leaders, bringing together young people from over 190 countries around the world to come together to confront the biggest challenges facing humanity.

(Image credit: Oli SCARFF / AFP/Getty Images)

During this interview, the Prince made allegations that members of his own family were in cahoots with the tabloid press.

"After many, many years of lies being told about me and my family," said Harry, "there comes a point where, going back to the relationship between, certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get in the bed with the devil."

Although it's unclear when exactly the Prince will give evidence, Sky News reports that his lawyer David Sherborne revealed that his client flew into the UK from Los Angeles on Sunday, June 4 after attending his daughter Princess Lilibet's birthday. 

Aoife Hanna
Junior News Editor

Aoife is an Irish journalist and writer with a background in creative writing, comedy, and TV production.

Formerly woman&home's junior news editor and a contributing writer at Bustle, her words can be found in the Metro, Huffpost, Delicious, Imperica and EVOKE.

Her poetry features in the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology.

Outside of work you might bump into her at a garden center, charity shop, yoga studio, lifting heavy weights, or (most likely) supping/eating some sort of delicious drink/meal.