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Duke says Buckingham Palace withheld information because the claim could "open Pandora's box" Prince Harry accused the royal family of withholding information about the phone hack from him because they did not want him to press charges, as it would "open a Pandora's box". In a witness statement filed ahead of his civil lawsuit against the Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers, the Duke of Sussex said he was conditioned on accepting his family's "never complain, never explain" rule when dealing with the press.
"The institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about the phone hack and made it clear to me that the Royal Family had not taken the stand as a witness as it could open a Pandora's box," the duke said in his statement. .
Prince Harry leaves court on second day of hearing
But speaking of the phone hacking allegations against News Group Newspapers, Harry said: "I realized I had a claim I could make" in 2018.
He added: "The institution has undoubtedly kept information about the NGN phone hack from me for a long time and this has only become clear in recent years as I have filed my own claim with various lawyers and legal representations."
Describing how he discovered that others within or associated with the royal family had filed a complaint against the press for phone hacking, he says: "It's not an exaggeration to say that the bubble has burst in terms of what I learned in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom. "
He continued: 'There was never a centralized discussion between us about who filed the complaints, as each office in the institution is isolated.
"There is a misconception that we are all in constant communication with each other, but that is not true."
Baroness Doreen Lawrence also provided a witness statement in which she said she had been "played for a fool" by the Daily Mail and believed the publication was "on my son's side and cared about the fight to bring his murderers to justice." Justice".
Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence, leaves the Royal Courts of Justice
He added that he believed the journalists he worked with in his fight for justice were "not just allies but friends."
Baroness Lawrence claimed that "secret electronic surveillance" was used when she met people at a cafe she went to when she wanted to talk to people in private.
He also claimed that corrupt payments were made to police officers.
"We have always suspected that the police were involved in corruption because of everything that happened that seemed to ensure that Stephen's killers were not found and jailed," Baroness Lawrence said.
She added: "I am haunted by the fact that I will never know the truth about what happened to Stephen the night he was killed, or the failed police investigations into his murder, and now the illegal invasions, espionage and information theft. about his death and about me by The Mail.
Elton John is part of the group suing Associated News
The statement from actress Elizabeth Hurley, also part of the allegations against Associated News, explained how the alleged phone hacking occurred.
He claimed that the private investigators working for the Associated News had a "former British Telecom and military telephone operator on the payroll full-time."
“This man was using tape recorders and inserting them into fixed cables in green BT junction box cabinets on the street. Sometimes I would put them down the sewers as well,” Hurley said.
"The recorders have always been carefully and deliberately hidden and concealed to escape any sweep ordered by suspicious victims.
"Hugh (Grant) and myself and many others fell victim to this and I thought about the time BT swept my lines and they confirmed I was ok and I thought my phone was safe to talk on."
He added that recordings of their conversations were sold for £2,000 cash "hidden in an envelope".
Elizabeth Hurley claimed that she and Hugh Grant were also victims of "disgusting" attacks
The remarks come on the second day of a preliminary hearing in the High Court, where Associated News lawyers argued that documents used by lawyers representing Prince Harry and his co-plaintiffs are confidential.
A High Court judge said he was "concerned" about who is responsible for monitoring confidentiality commitments made during the Leveson investigation.
The Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) argument is that part of the case brought by seven personalities is based on documents that were provided by the company to the Leveson Inquiry in 2011 and 2012, on the understanding that they were confidential.
The company argues that these materials are subject to binding disclosure and publication restriction orders and usage agreements, and that the plaintiffs' attorneys are in breach of these by relying on them without asking prior to disclosure.
However, on Tuesday Judge Nicklin said it was unclear who controls the companies because the Leveson investigation no longer exists.
Associated News Limited denies the allegations against him.
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