Prince Harry claims King Charles wanted the tabloids 'on their side' in shocking revelations

Prince Harry has been in court in the UK against The Sun and News of the World, which are owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Prince Harry is suing the tabloids over claims they hacked his phone. In his witness statement, Prince Harry talks about his brother’s case too and how he chose to handle the situation.

The Duke of Sussex also talks about his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth’s involvement in the case as well as his father, King Charles’. Prince Harry claims that King Charles tried to stop him from pursuing the phone-hacking claims years ago to keep the tabloids on their side.

Prince Harry asked for the Queen’s permission to pursue the case

According to Prince Harry’s witness statement, which has been published by The Guardian, he had to ask his ‘granny’s’ permission, meaning he had to go ask Queen Elizabeth if he could pursue the case.

He explains that he was discussing the matter with Prince William, saying he had had ‘enough of this’ and wanted to take action and demanded a ‘formal apology from Murdoch’ before his wedding to Meghan in 2018.

I want to get permission to push for a resolution to our phone-hacking claims and a formal apology from Murdoch before any of his people are allowed anywhere near the wedding [to Meghan in 2018]’ or words to that effect.

He then went on to explain that his brother was ‘understanding and supportive’ of his choice and he was the one to suggest he seeks their grandmother’s approval.

I spoke to her shortly afterwards and said something along the lines of ‘are you happy for me to push this forward, do I have your permission?’ and she said ‘yes’

Prince Harry claims Prince William received a ‘huge sum’ to go ‘quietly’

In his witness statement, the Duke of Sussex also recalls Prince William’s case in the phone-hacking incident. He claimed that his brother knew ‘an awful lot more’ than he did and didn’t share his intel.

His statement also claims that Prince William settled his claim for ‘a huge sum of money’ and his settlement didn’t include a ‘strike-out application’. Furthermore, he didn't let the public know about the money. According to Harry, this meant that his brother got to go ‘quietly.’

However, NGN still settled his claim for a huge sum of money in 2020 without subjecting him to a similar strike-out application, without any of the public being told, and seemingly with some favourable deal in return for him going ‘quietly’ so to speak.

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Prince Harry claims that King Charles tried to stop him from pursuing the case

The Duke of Sussex also talks about his father, then-Prince Charles and how he was against Harry pursuing the tabloids legally. Prince Harry recalls that Clarence House, which at the time, represented Charles and Camilla, were particularly ‘unhelpful’ and ‘blocking our every move.’

According to Prince Harry, the reason that King Charles didn’t want to rock the boat with the tabloids, was that he wanted them on his side ‘to smooth the way for my stepmother (and father) to be accepted by the British public as queen consort.’

Prince Harry continues that the Institution and the tabloids had a ‘secret agreement.’ He also states that he was called to the Palace and told to drop the case as it can have an ‘effect on all the family.’

I was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an ‘effect on all the family’. This was a direct request (or rather demand) from my father, Edward Young [private secretary to the queen] and my father’s private secretary, Clive Alderton.

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Sources used:

The Guardian: ‘Grotesque and sadistic’: Prince Harry’s key phone-hacking claims’

The Telegraph: ‘The big revelations from Prince Harry's 31-page witness statement’

Express: ‘Harry and William reconciliation hopes in 'tatters' after '£1m' royal bombshell’