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June 6 - Sussex Thread

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 8:57 am

n/t

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Harry attacks UK government

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 9:03 am, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

Prince Harry today launched an extraordinary attack on the Government – branding it 'rock bottom' - and addressed rumours that Princess Diana's lover James Hewitt was his father as he became the first British royal to testify in open court since 1891.

The Duke of Sussex lambasted No 10 as part of his historic appearance in the witness box at the High Court in London this morning, and also referred to Paul Burrell as a 'two-face s***'.

Link: Daily Mail

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Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 9:19 am, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

Prince Harry's 25,538-word witness statement was released today as he began giving evidence for his phone hacking trial against the publisher of the Mirror.

The Duke of Sussex has complained in the High Court document about the 'state of our press and our government - both of which I believe are at rock bottom'.

The 550-page document contains five mentions of the 38-year-old prince's wife Meghan Markle and 118 mentions of his first serious girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

I don't know about the rest of you, but

1) I don't have the time to read 550 pages right now

2) There's no way Harry wrote that statement

Link: Daily Mail

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Martha on June 6, 2023, 10:23 am, in reply to "Prince Harry statement in full"

I hope this counts as Harry’s second book so we can call it over and done with and not deal with it further.

He is, of course, entitled to his own opinion and has the right to express himself as he sees fit. The rest of us have the right to ignore him. Hacking personal information was absolutely wrong but this will give old embarrassing stories new life, which is not a wise strategy. I think he has greased the lid hinge on Pandora’s box and has underestimated what will follow.

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 11:28 am, in reply to "Re: Prince Harry statement in full"

I thought this case was about phone hacking, but Harry appears to be emptying a gunnysack of stored up grievances against the media.

He's chosen the wrong forum for that. The court is interested in the facts, not what he imagines or thinks.

He's not going to get a judgment in his favor just because his feelings were hurt. He needs to provide evidence.

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Hollie24 on June 6, 2023, 1:00 pm, in reply to "Prince Harry statement in full"

Two words: verbal vomit.

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 1:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Prince Harry statement in full"

I guess we know what he did with the pages that didn't make it into Spare.

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Hollie24 on June 6, 2023, 1:41 pm, in reply to "Re: Prince Harry statement in full"

Yep. I tried reading some of it, and I believe my two-word summary is accurate. I listened to Spare and that was bad enough.

I used to think the Duke of Windsor was the ultimate Royal whinger, but dear lord he looks positively discreet next to his great grandnephew.

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by Cynthia on June 6, 2023, 5:55 pm, in reply to "Re: Prince Harry statement in full"

Verbal vomit? Then it must have been written by Megan.

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Re: Prince Harry statement in full

Posted by karenl on June 6, 2023, 7:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Prince Harry statement in full"

Harry provided absolutely no proof beyond a reasonable doubt for his claims. He's using the judicial system as his Bully Pulpit to rehash all of his whining, moaning and *****ing about his "horrible life" and is again exploiting his mother.
He's made a fool out of himself, what's new?
The lawyers for ANL and the Murdock group are watching this closely and building up their arsenals. Harry has to keep his story straight for 3 more cases? He already has screwed up.

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Lawyer accuses Prince Harry of being 'in the realms of total speculation'

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 11:35 am, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

Prince Harry was today accused of being 'in the realms of total speculation' while giving evidence at a London phone hacking trial where he also suggested his father King Charles may have been a victim.

In a heated moment at the High Court, where the Duke of Sussex became the first royal to testify for more than a century, Andrew Green, KC for Mirror Group Newspapers, told him: 'That's not an answer.'

'Are we not, Prince Harry, in the realms of total speculation?' Mr Green said shortly afterwards when the royal said he was 'not sure' whose phone was hacked when he broke his thumb playing football at Eton and it appeared in the Press.

(snip)

And as the world was captivated by Harry's landmark appearance, he used his pulpit beneath the High Court coat of arms of his father the Sovereign to claim:

Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell was a 'two-faced s***'

Stories about James Hewitt being his 'biological father' made him fear 'I might be ousted from the Royal Family'

He worried he would be expelled from Eton for taking drugs

Diana's supposed paranoia mirrored his own fears of friends betraying him

Journalists hacked his girlfriend Chelsy Davy after he dressed as a fancy-dress Nazi

'Horrific personal attacks and intimidation' on him and Meghan were allegedly made by former editor Piers Morgan

He is exposing media 'criminality' for moral reasons and as 'a soldier upholding important values'

Link: Daily Mail

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'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 11:53 am, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

Prince Harry has claimed in the High Court that he was painted as a 'thicko' by tabloid newspapers and felt like he ended playing up to stereotypes they created.

The Duke of Sussex said in his case against Mirror Group Newspapers that the Press had also described him as a 'cheat', 'underage drinker' and 'irresponsible drug taker'.

Harry, 38, claimed newspapers tried to edge Royal Family members towards playing the 'roles that suit them best'- and 'especially if you are the 'spare' to the 'heir''.

The royal, who spent five years at the prestigious Eton College, said tabloids were 'constantly peddling' an idea 'that I was not bright, struggling at school, a 'thicko''.

Two A-levels, helped by teachers doing some of the course work to achieve a B in Art, and a D in Geography. Sounds like struggling to me.

I found the practice of posting A-level results on school doors a despicable violation of students' privacy, and I'm glad the practice has ended. Also pleased that Edward and Sophie ended the practice of the royals revealing their children's grades.

However, what does all this have to do with phone hacking? All I'm hearing is a heck of a lot of blame shifting.

Link: Daily Mail

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Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by Martha on June 6, 2023, 12:50 pm, in reply to "'I was cast into the role of the thicko'"

It looks like Harry is going to dredge up everything that ever bothered him in his life, including situations that he brought about himself. While I do agree with Harry that "in the public interest" and "what interests the public" can be polar opposites, he can't blame the press for covering stories that the royals themselves created. Just because a story is embarrassing doesn't make it untrue. The late queen's approach of "Don't Complain, Don't Explain" worked for her because she led a blameless life.

If Diana hadn't had multiple affairs and hadn't publicly admitted her affair with Hewitt, there would have been no speculation about Harry's parentage. That story should have been nipped in the bud, but on that point Diana chose to remain quiet. Was she using the speculation to hurt Charles? This should have been denied vigorously, and shame on the media for continuing to repeat it.

Harry regularly made a spectacle of himself in nightclubs and who knows what he said to what person when he was drunk. There were multiple ways for salacious stories to make it into the press, including phone hacking and paying staff/friends for tidbits. How to trace back which stories came from which sources in nigh impossible now. One source of leaks to the media would be the staff who were insulted/berated/mistreated by the Prince of Petulance and who sold tales to the tabloids. Another situation where Harry can blame himself for acting like a fool and giving the media something to write about. Harry went to a strip club? How hard was it to figure out that his girlfriend wouldn't be happy about it and would let him know via phone call? The princes were going to meet with Paul Burrell privately over his violating their late mother's privacy. What genius needs to have it pointed out that the source of the leak was more than likely Burrell himself?

From what I have read thus far, Harry has not really proven anything against the media. They are gossip mongers and when given a negative story and they'll run with it, we already knew that and it's obnoxious but not illegal. So far it looks like the tabloids printed a lot of speculation and much of it stuck. There have been instances of the media hacking phones and using unscrupulous methods to find or confirm a story, but not every story that they published can be attributed to underhanded information gathering. If Harry wants a victory in court, he'll need incontrovertible evidence. Continued whining about his feelings won't cut it.

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Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 1:23 pm, in reply to "Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'"

Chelsy's "friends" were a source of many stories.

It was a preview of what was to come with his wife. So many of the wife's stories followed the same format as Chelsy's. Her friends claimed that she was going to meet the Queen at some event, and either Chelsy wasn't invited to the event, or the Queen was a no-show. The Queen could not be manipulated by Harry's teenage girlfriend nor by his wife. But it didn't stop them trying multiple times.

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Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by Martha on June 6, 2023, 1:56 pm, in reply to "Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'"

The same with Cressida Bonas' friends, who reported that she didn't like the intensity of press attention and was mystified over why people paid so much attention to what she wore. The media liked Cressisda's background and family for Harry, but Cressida didn't like the spotlight for h

After having he heart broken twice over girlfriends not wanting press attention was Harry influenced to find a woman who craved public adulation?

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Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 2:08 pm, in reply to "Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'"

I'm not sure Chelsy didn't want the spotlight. I believe the version that claims she broke up with Harry because he cheated on her.

And Cressida had broken up with guy she eventually married then immediately started a relationship with Harry. Rebound relationships usually don't work. Cressida has also been reported to have said that Harry wasn't a nice person.

I think both women used the spotlight excuse as the reason for the breakup to avoid badmouthing Harry and/or because it showed themselves in a good light.

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Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by Martha on June 6, 2023, 2:17 pm, in reply to "Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'"

I don't know if Harry cheated on Chelsy or not, but she hasn't put herself in the spotlight since the breakup so my hunch is that it was too much for her. It may have been exciting at first, but she was determined to get her degree and the media was her life difficult. I think what sunk them as a couple is that Chelsy outgrew Harry.

As for Cressida, I think she and Harry were each other's rebound romance. Cressida wanted to act on stage not work for The Firm, so it wasn't going to last.

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Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'

Posted by karenl on June 6, 2023, 7:27 pm, in reply to "Re: 'I was cast into the role of the thicko'"

"Cast as being the thicko", at least the press was right about that.
Talking about the sainted Diana, apologies for the label, but she played the press like a piano. We all know and have discussed that. Diana called up her favored journalists, leaked info and then turned on the press when they showed up/wrote stories about her. She howled press intrusion. Her son and his wife play the same game. Leak stories to the press, hire BackGrid for PR stories, make sure they're always in the press, then howl press intrusion. All three got what they asked for, Diana didn't deserve to die, but she brought a lot on herself, so do the Sussexes.
As I've said, Harry's proven nothing so far, except to waste the Court's time. He wasn't smirking as he left Court, was he?
As for his "statement", he cut his own throat.

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Harry admits his Spare memoir contradicts his evidence at hacking trial

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 3:22 pm, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

Prince Harry admitted his memoir Spare contradicted a claim in his witness statement at the High Court today - and denied accusations his solicitors drafted evidence for him.

The Duke of Sussex, who has become the first royal to testify for more than a century at the phone hacking trial in London, also tried to turn questions on a lawyer after the High Court was told a story subject to one of his complaints came from a royal press release.

Andrew Green KC, for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), told the royal: 'I am here to cross-examine you, I am afraid that's the way this works, Prince Harry.'

Link: Daily Mail

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Re: Harry admits his Spare memoir contradicts his evidence at hacking trial

Posted by Martha on June 6, 2023, 3:36 pm, in reply to "Harry admits his Spare memoir contradicts his evidence at hacking trial"

This is just embarrassing for Harry and I'm here for all of it.

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Re: Harry admits his Spare memoir contradicts his evidence at hacking trial

Posted by karenl on June 6, 2023, 7:42 pm, in reply to "Re: Harry admits his Spare memoir contradicts his evidence at hacking trial"

Did anyone notice it? Throughout the entire session with the Defense, not one objection raised by Harry's attorney to the line of questioning.
MGN has an excellent Barrister who knows his stuff/the law and is a Rottweiler/Pitbull.
Harry deserves every bit of this, and he has to come back Wed. for more..it could get even uglier.

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Taz

Posted by Hollie24 on June 6, 2023, 4:43 pm, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

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Re: Taz

Posted by Martha on June 6, 2023, 5:14 pm, in reply to "Taz"

The burden of proof is on the accuser, at least in U.S. courts. Harry's team hasn't really shown that the alleged offenses even occurred as charged. Not liking his press coverage doesn't mean that information was obtained illegally. At the very least, it looks like there was a group of reporters who paid attention to details and scheduling changes and was able to anticipate where Harry would be on a given day/night and be there waiting with photographers.

I do remember an instance where there was news that William had injured his knee and would miss an event because of needing treatment on his knee. Here's a link to that story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-419398/Knee-story-sparked-royal-phone-tap-fears.html

So the possibility of messages being intercepted has been known to the royals for years. Certainly phone conversations have been intercepted, recorded and played back to the embarrassment of Charles and Camilla as well as the late Diana and James Gilbey.

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Re: Taz

Posted by karenl on June 6, 2023, 8:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Taz"

Oh yes, it was William and Tom Bradby that, originally sounded an alarm, if you will, or suspicions about possible hacking. Prince Dimwit was too busy with his bar hopping, drug use and partying to pay attention.

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Meanwhile In A DC Courtroom

Posted by karenl on June 6, 2023, 9:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Taz"

"WASHINGTON (AP) — The past drug use that Prince Harry detailed in his explosive memoir should spark the release of his immigration paperwork, a conservative American think tank argued in a Washington court Tuesday as they appealed to a judge for a quicker response a records request the U.S. government has so far deemed private.

The hearing played out, coincidently, as the Duke of Sussex himself testified London in another lawsuit he filed against British newspapers. In Washington, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols told the Heritage Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security to work on the speed of the response, and he would rule if they could not reach an agreement on their own."

"..........The agency’s policy does allow the release of information about issues of public interest, but the agency argued that media coverage of how Harry’s drug use connects to his visa status in the U.S. hasn’t been widespread among mainstream American publications.

The questions that have been raised, meanwhile, aren’t the kind of weighty queries about possible government misdeeds that warrant the fast processing the Heritage Foundation is asking for, federal attorneys argued.

A representative for Harry did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

While two of the three agencies involved have denied the request, Department of Homeland Security headquarters hasn’t formally responded and is fighting the foundation’s push to act quickly. Nichols expressed frustration at being asked to decide the narrow question whether to order a fast response, but said he would rule if the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on their own within a week."

https://apnews.com/article/prince-harry-visa-washington-drug-use-085e7cf22a7c4ce20b7688fabe6280b5

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Jan Moir column

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 10:12 pm, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

It came as no surprise that the prince’s level of truculence seemed to rise as the day progressed – you don’t need a dipstick to gauge the actual depths, but here he is, just the same.

‘Repeat the question,’ he demanded at one point. At other moments, he had trouble locating the evidence on the screen in front of him. ‘It is on the screen in front of you,’ Mr Green told him.

‘It is not,’ said Harry.

‘I think it is,’ said the lawyer.

‘If you say so,’ said Harry, a 38-year-old man who can still locate his inner Kevin the Teenager with distressing ease. Hour after hour, the Harry that emerged in court was a combustible mixture of victimhood and arrogance. The latter often took precedence but his broken side, the damaged side, was never far away.

Link: Daily Mail

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Re: Jan Moir column

Posted by karenl on June 7, 2023, 12:14 am, in reply to "Jan Moir column"

Harry repeated turning to the judge to explain how the newspaper industry works......an absolute moron.

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Eight articles that cast doubt on Prince Harry's High Court case

Posted by Susan T on June 6, 2023, 10:27 pm, in reply to "June 6 - Sussex Thread "

n/t

Link: Daily Mail

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