Prince Harry takes stand, denies having ‘leaky’ social circle in Daily Mail trial

Prince Harry tried to explain what it’s like living under what he called '24-hour surveillance' before the judge intervened and told him not to argue with the defence lawyer.

Prince Harry struck a combative tone as he testified Wednesday in his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail and disputed suggestions he was cozy with journalists who covered the royal family or that his friends dished dirt about him to the tabloids.

“My social circles were not leaky,” he declared in the third and final round of his battle against the British tabloids.

His curt replies during cross-examination and efforts to explain what it’s like living under what he called “24-hour surveillance” eventually brought the intervention of the judge, who told him not to argue with the defence lawyer.

“You don’t have to bear the burden of arguing the case today,” Justice Matthew Nicklin told the frustrated prince.

Harry and six other prominent figures, including Elton John and actor Elizabeth Hurley, allege that Associated Newspapers Ltd. invaded their privacy by engaging in a “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering” for two decades, lawyer David Sherborne said.

Associated Newspapers Ltd. has denied the allegations, called them preposterous and said the roughly 50 articles in question were reported with legitimate sources that included close associates willing to inform on their famous friends.

Harry said in his 23-page witness statement that he was distressed and disturbed by the intrusion into his early life by the Mail and its sister publication the Mail on Sunday, and it made him “paranoid beyond belief.”

Under the English civil court system, witnesses present written testimony and after asserting that it’s the truth are immediately put under cross-examination.