Prince Harry is “destroying his life” as he grows increasingly distant from the Royal Family, according to a former Tory minister.
David Mellor spoke after the Duke of Sussex claimed Prince William received a secret payment to settle a phone-hacking claim.
The timing of the claim couldn’t have come at a worse time for the royal establishment as preparations for King Charles III’s Coronation ramp up.
Speaking on GB News, Mellor claims Harry’s apparent continued attacks on the royal establishment has resulted in the Duke “ruining” his life.
Prince Harry has made new claims about his brother
PAHe told Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster: “Harry is not only destroying his life, but he’s destroying his ability to actually be accepted back into the Royal Family.
“William got a settlement of around a million pounds which, when you think about it, considering Murdoch has paid out hundreds of millions, is not excessive.”
It comes as the Duke of Sussex was said to have been “kept out of the loop” regarding alleged unlawful information gathering by tabloid newspapers in relation to the royal household.
Harry, 38, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering at two of its titles, The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World – claiming that his private information was unlawfully accessed.
NGN is bringing a bid to have Harry’s case thrown out, along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant, at a three-day hearing in London which started on Tuesday, arguing they have been brought too late.
But, responding to the publisher’s strike out application, Harry’s lawyers said it is an attempt to go behind a “secret agreement” between the royal family as an institution and NGN, which the duke was informed of in 2012.
David Sherborne, representing Harry, told the court on Wednesday that, before 2012, the duke believed there was only one voicemail which his brother the Prince of Wales left for him that had been intercepted.
The barrister said Harry thought the tabloid press “wouldn’t have been stupid enough to go after his messages, given the security services’ involvement”, and that there were members of royal staff who he was aware believed they had been hacked but he was “kept out of the loop”.
The claim is one of a number of legal actions currently being brought by the duke, who appeared in person at the High Court last month for a preliminary hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail and Mail On Sunday.
He is also expected to give evidence at a trial over allegations of unlawful information gathering against tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), due to begin next month, with Harry due to appear in court in June.
