Duke of Sussex: Tabloid press ‘third party’ in all my relationships

In court documents, Harry said he tried to be ‘the best partner’ he could be, but the tabloid press always became involved.

In court documents, Harry said he tried to be ‘the best partner’ he could be, but the tabloid press always became involved (Matt Dunham/PA) (PA Wire)

The Duke of Sussex has said he felt like the tabloid press was a “third party” in all of his relationships.

In court documents revealed on Tuesday, Harry said he always tried to be “the best partner” he could be, but “every woman has her limit”.

He said that the tabloid press always became involved in his relationships, and tried to ruin them.

“Whenever I have been in a relationship, I have always tried to be the best partner that I possibly could, but every woman has her limit,” he said in a witness statement.

“Unfortunately, they are not just in a relationship with me but with the entire tabloid press as a third party.

As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to place upon me

Duke of Sussex

“At no point did I have a girlfriend or a relationship with anyone without the tabloids getting involved and ultimately ruining it, or trying to ruin it, using whatever unlawful means at their disposal.”

He claimed that the tabloid press felt like it “owned” him, despite him only being 5% funded by the taxpayer while he was a working royal.

“Despite the common misconception, I was no more than 5% funded by the taxpayer while I was a working royal in the UK, yet it felt as though the tabloid press thought that they owned me absolutely, and deserved to know everything there is to know about me, my life, my movements and the lives of those people who came into my orbit,” he said.

Harry claimed that the tabloid press cast him as a “thicko” and a “cheat”, and that he ended up “playing up” to the headlines they wrote about him.

“As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to place upon me,” he said.

“It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a ‘damaged’ young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers. Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile.”

He said that the tabloids hoped for him to undergo a “total and very public breakdown”.

“Despite them all knowing about what I was dealing with throughout the years, they kept on doubling down their efforts rather than letting up,” he said.

“That is grotesque and sadistic – and no doubt they were hoping for a total and very public breakdown.”

Harry said he felt the tabloids wanted him to remain single as he was “much more interesting to them”, and said reporting more recently has been “even more sinister and dangerous because of race”.

“Whilst they would, of course, report on my successes in life, it seemed to me that they took far greater pleasure in knocking me down, time and time again. This extended to my relationships,” he said.

“I always felt as if the tabloids wanted me to be single, as I was much more interesting to them and sold more newspapers.

“Whenever I got into a relationship, they were very keen to report the details but would then, very quickly, seek to try and break it up by putting as much strain on it and creating as much distrust as humanly possible.

“This twisted objective is still pursued to this day, even though I’m now married.

“The methods relied on of late being even more sinister and dangerous because of race.”

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

On Tuesday, NGN made a bid for a judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant.