Prince Harry says 'the whole country is doomed' if he loses his legal war

Their witness statements were made public for the first time on Tuesday in a joint claim of alleged unlawful information gathering.

The Duke said: "If the defendant, the owner of various national newspapers, including the Daily Mail which, by its own definition, is the most influential and popular newspaper in the UK, can evade justice without there being a trial of my claims then what does that say about the industry as a whole and the consequences for our great country.

"Unfair is not a big enough word to describe the fact that Associated is trying at this early stage to prevent me from bringing my claim.

"If the most influential newspaper company can successfully evade justice, then in my opinion the whole country is doomed."

Prince Harry has been seen diligently making notes in a black leather notebook during his appearances at the High Court.

However, he did not attend the third day of the hearing today.

None of the claimants, including Prince Harry, were formally required to be at the hearing.

The preliminary High Court hearing is scheduled to last four days.

The Daily Mail's publisher has described the allegations as "preposterous smears".

ANL denies the allegations and a preliminary will consider legal arguments and a judge will decide whether it will go any further.

In a statement released in October when the legal action was announced, the newspaper group said: "We utterly and unambiguously refute these preposterous smears which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30 years old.

"These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims - based on no credible evidence - appear to be simply a fishing expedition by claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere."

The privacy hearing will continue on Thursday.