Explained: Why is Prince Harry suing British tabloids?

Harry said he wondered who he could trust after fearing that friends and close associates were betraying him by leaking information to the newspapers.

Prince Harry failed to appear at a High Court in London on Monday, with the judge reportedly “surprised” by his absence and the lawyer appearing for the publishing house terming it as “extraordinary”. Harry will now give the evidence on Tuesday, becoming the first member of the British royal family in more than a century to testify in court as his battle with the UK press is headed for a showdown with the publisher of the Daily Mirror.

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leaves the High Court in London, Britain March 28. (REUTERS)

This will be Duke of Sussex's first of five pending legal cases centered around British tabloids, reported news agency AP. Prince Harry said in court documents that the royal family had avoided the courts to prevent testifying about matters that might be “embarrassing”, it added.

The backstory

It is alleged that some tabloids unlawfully snooped on the prince since childhood in their cutthroat competition for scoops on the royal family. Moreover, the 38-year-old prince has blamed continuous spying by paparazzi for causing the car crash that killed his mother, Princess Diana. He cited harassment and intrusion by the UK press, including allegedly racist articles, as the reason for leaving behind the royal family and shifting to the US with his wife, Meghan, in 2020.

The report stated that Prince Harry has cited articles dating back to his 12th birthday, in 1996, when the Mirror published that he was feeling “badly” about the divorce of his mother and father.

Harry thought his friends are betraying him

Prince Harry said in court documents that the reports made him go through a tough time as he wondered who he could trust after fearing that friends and close associates were betraying him by leaking information to the newspapers.

He has alleged that his circle of friends grew smaller and he suffered “huge bouts of depression and paranoia". Relationships fell apart as the women in his life – and even their family members – were “dragged into the chaos.”

Harry said he discovered later that the source wasn't disloyal friends but aggressive journalists and the private investigators they hired to eavesdrop on voicemails and track him to locations as remote as Argentina and an island off Mozambique.