The Royal Family "without a doubt" withheld information from Prince Harry about phone hacking, the Duke of Sussex has claimed.
In a witness statement submitted before his civil claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers, Harry said that he accepted his family's rule to "never complain, never explain" when dealing with the media.
While discussing the phone hacking claims against News Group Newspapers, Harry said: "I became aware that I had a claim that I could bring in 2018".
"The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN's phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation."
Harry said that he accepted his family's rule to "never complain, never explain" when dealing with the media
PA
The Duke of Sussex is one of a number of high-profile individuals to bring claims against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for misuse of private information.
Speaking about how he discovered that other people within or associated with the Royal Family had brought phone hacking claims against the press, he said: "It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom."
"There was never any centralised discussion between us about who had brought claims as each office in the Institution is siloed. There is this misconception that we are all in constant communication with one another but that is not true.
He added: "The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms."
The Prince said the Royal Family's "strict no comment policy" meant that "even the worst or most suspicious articles were often never brought to my attention."
In court documents released on Monday, Harry claims his brother William was among the targets of a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for both Mail newspapers in 2005 and 2006.
In his statement of claim, Harry says Mulcaire, through former News of the World executive Greg Miskiw, provided “unlawfully or illegally obtained information” and offered a “menu of illegal services” to an employee of the Mail on Sunday.
Prince Harry is bringing the action along with others including actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, Sir Elton John and his husband, filmmaker David Furnish, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon OBE.
Sir Elton John is one of seven stars in court over allegations of unlawful information gathering brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL)
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Harry closed his written statement to the court saying: "I am bringing this claim because I love my country and I remain deeply concerned by the unchecked power, influence and criminality of Associated.
"The British public deserve to know the full extent of this cover up and I feel it is my duty to expose it."
Today Prince Harry arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice for the second day of the privacy case hearing.
ANL denies the allegations and the preliminary will consider legal arguments and a judge will decide whether it will go any further.
