The Duke of Sussex has gone nuclear. In a London courtroom packed with tension, lawyers for Prince Harry have painted a picture of a man driven to the brink of "paranoia" by a ruthless media machine. Harry alleges he has been the victim of a "sustained campaign" of harassment by Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail, simply for daring to fight back.

The evidence presented is explosive. We are talking about bugged cars, tapped phones, and private medical records bought and sold like commodities. Harry's legal team claims that for over a decade, the Mail group treated his life as a content farm, harvesting his most intimate secrets to sell papers. The "temerity to stand up" to them, his lawyer David Sherborne argued, has painted a target on his back.

The Price of Privacy

This is not just a celebrity spat; it is a war over the soul of the British press. Harry is joined by Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, forming a coalition of the invaded. They allege that the publisher hired private investigators to commit burglary and install listening devices.

• The Human Cost: "Distrust and suspicion." That is how Harry describes his life. He lost friends, doubted his family, and lived in a state of constant siege, believing those closest to him were leaking stories. In reality, he was allegedly being surveilled by criminals on a payroll.
• The Defence: The publisher denies everything, calling the claims "preposterous" and arguing they are too old to be tried. It is a cynical defense: "We didn't do it, but even if we did, you took too long to complain."

The Final Stand

Harry is expected to take the stand tomorrow, a move that will send shockwaves through the monarchy. He is doing what no Royal has dared to do: drag the dark arts of Fleet Street into the light. Win or lose, Harry has already exposed the rot. He is fighting for the principle that a press pass is not a license to stalk. But in taking on the "Mail," he is fighting a beast that buys ink by the barrel—and it never forgets.