Meghan Markle 'subjected to horrific personal attacks in hope I would back down' - Prince Harry

The Duke of Sussex is the first senior member of the Royal Family to be questioned in court since 1891.

A 55-page statement was released on Tuesday as he began giving evidence in his phone hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers.

Prince Harry singled out Piers Morgan in his witness statement as he blasted the journalist's conduct.

He said: "The thought of Piers Morgan and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages (in the same way as they have me) and then having given her a 'nightmare time' three months prior to her death in Paris, makes me feel physically sick and even more determined to hold those responsible, including Mr Morgan, accountable for their vile and entirely unjustified behaviour."

Harry continued: "Unfortunately, as a consequence of me bringing my Mirror Group claim, both myself and my wife have been subjected to a barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation from Piers Morgan, who was the Editor of the Daily Mirror between 1995 and 2004, presumably in retaliation and in the hope that I will back down, before being able to hold him properly accountable for his unlawful activity towards both me and my mother during his editorship."

Morgan has always denied any involvement in or knowledge of phone-hacking or other illegal activity.

In May, Morgan took a pop at the Duke of Sussex when asked if he would be issuing an apology to the royal.

He said: "All I am going to say is I am not going to take lectures on privacy invasion from Prince Harry, somebody who has spent the last three years ruthlessly and cynically invading the Royal Family’s privacy for vast commercial gain.

"So I suggest he gets out of court and apologises to his family for the disgraceful invasion of privacy that he’s been purporting.”

Morgan added: "I think Prince Harry should be apologising for his disgraceful invasion of privacy of the royal family and others by the way."

In March 2021, Piers Morgan left ITV's Good Morning Britain over a row regarding comments he made about Meghan Markle.

ITV announced the decision after Ofcom said it was investigating his comments after receiving 41,000 complaints.

Morgan said he "didn't believe a word" the Duchess of Sussex said regarding her mental health during her interview with Oprah Winfrey.

An ITV spokesperson said following his departure: "Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add."