The Duke of Sussex gave a nearly two-hour testimony in London’s High Court on Wednesday.

Prince Harry tears up during testimony against U.K. tabloids: ‘They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery’

The Duke of Sussex gave a nearly two-hour testimony in London's High Court on Wednesday.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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January 21, 2026 2:40 p.m. ET

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Prince Harry leaving London Hight Court on Jan. 21, 2026. Credit:

Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty

Prince Harry struggled to hold back tears during his nearly two-hour testimony at a London court on Wednesday, as part of the lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the *Daily Mail* and *The Mail on Sunday*.

The Duke of Sussex is one of seven high-profile claimants — including Elton John, David Furness, and Elizabeth Hurley — suing the publisher over allegations of unlawful information gathering, claims the publisher has strongly denied. The yearslong legal fight marks the 41-year-old's final active lawsuit against the British press, capping years of litigation over tabloid practices.

"Through the course of this litigation, [the situation] only got worse, not better," Harry told the London High Court of the alleged intrusion from the British press. "It's fundamentally wrong to put all of us through all of this again. What's required is an apology and some accountability. It's a horrible experience."

Prince Harry leaving court on Jan. 21, 2026.

Dan Kitwood/Getty

Harry recalled the toll that the case has taken on him and his family, his voice cracking with emotion, per PEOPLE. "By standing up here and taking a stand against them, this has continued to come after me," he said. "And they have made my wife's life an absolute misery, my Lord."

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has been the source of intense and highly controversial scrutiny from the British press since news broke of her relationship with Harry during her time on the legal drama *Suits*.

In Harry's witness statement, reviewed by PEOPLE, the father of two said he felt compelled to take legal action after what he described as "vicious" and "sometimes racist" coverage of Markle following the start of their relationship in 2016.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during Game 4 of the 2025 World Series.

Joe Scarnici/MLB Photos via Getty

"However, in late 2016, when my relationship with Meghan, my now wife, became public, I started to become increasingly troubled by the approach of not taking action against the press in the wake of vicious persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles concerning Meghan. The situation got worse when she became pregnant and after our son, Archie, was born," he said, referring to their son Prince Archie, now 6.

Markle has also had her own legal battles with the press. In August 2018, she sued Associated Newspapers Limited, the owner of the* Daily Mail*'s weekend newspaper, *The Mail on Sunday*, over five articles that reproduced parts of a private letter she had written to her father. The legal action was still ongoing in the summer of 2020 when she miscarried.

The former actress emerged victorious from that lawsuit, with the courts finding that ANL invaded her privacy and infringed her copyright by printing substantial parts of the letter without permission. ANL lost its appeals and was ordered to publish notices of her victory on their front pages and pay damages.

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A spokesperson for Harry told PEOPLE that the cross-examination "quickly unraveled."

"Today's cross-examination was revealing in its weakness: assertive in tone, but collapsing immediately under scrutiny from Prince Harry," the spokesperson said. "Associated couldn't wait to get him off the stand, questioning him for just 2 hours and avoiding 10 of his 14 articles entirely."

Harry also weighed in after Wednesday's testimony, saying: "Today we reminded the Mail Group who is on trial and why."

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Harry returned to the U.K. from the United States to provide testimony for the civil case, which started on Monday, and is expected to last nine weeks.

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