Prince Harry has had his day in court.
In fact he had two of them.
So what did we learn from his grilling - or should we say roasting - at the hands of a top London lawyer hired to probe the truth of the Prince’s accusation that the Daily Mirror illegally hacked his phone to print details of his very public "private" life?
Harry is claiming that the Mirror and other media must have listened in to his private calls and voicemails to glean details of his life.
He says their constant and cruel harassment caused the breakdown of his relationship with former girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and has branded the behaviour of both Britain’s Press - and for good measure it’s government too - as "rock bottom".
Harry’s entrances and exits at the court before the massed ranks of the world’s media resembled a star walking the red carpet at a film premiere.
And this is no accident, for one thing we do know about the confused prince is that for someone who claims to want to protect his privacy at all costs, he sure does love the limelight.
He hates the tabloid press, but depends on its publicity giving him the high profile that he so clearly craves.
Unlike a practiced actor, however, the prince seemed to fall apart when it mattered most - fluffing or forgetting many of his lines.
All too many of Andrew Green KC’s questions were met with a mumbled "I don’t know" or "I can’t remember" from a suddenly shy Harry.
On show in the court in all its tawdry glory was Harry’s now all-too-familiar sense of entitlement: his grasp of the remote real world from his luxurious California exile is so tenuous that he appeared surprised to hear that just because he says something happened does not necessarily mean that it did.
Harry’s chief beef with the media - we could call it his overriding obsession - is that since his childhood they not only killed his mother Princess Diana, but have ruined his life by telling the truth about him.
At various times, he claims, they have branded him a "dropout", an "underage drinker" and an "irresponsible drug user".
Well, if they did, Harry, whose fault do you suppose that is?
His lame and halting performance in the witness box proves that the Prince could never be accused of self-awareness.
Fortunately for all concerned, Harry’s father King Charles was not on hand to see his second son’s self-chosen ordeal.
Perhaps deliberately, the king was on a private visit to Transylvania, the region of Rumania best known for having once been the home of Count Dracula .
It may have been for the best.
In his first court appearance by a senior royal for 132 years, Harry humiliated himself by failing to prove any of the 33 instances of illegal intrusion that he is claiming took place.
We will have to wait until later this year to know whether the judge believes the prince or the paper.
Meanwhile, a nation holds its breath.
Nigel Jones is a historian and journalist whose work has been featured in major British publications including The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Spectator. His previous positions include Deputy Editor of History Today and the Reviews Editor of the BBC History magazines.
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2023-06-08 05:11:28Z
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