Prince Harry fights back tears as he tells court tabloids made Meghan's life 'an absolute misery'

Prince Harry has come close to tears during a two-hour appearance on the witness stand as he described how tabloid newspapers made his wife Meghan's life "an absolute misery".

The Duke of Sussex gave evidence in his trial against the publishers of the Daily Mail, telling London's High Court his private life had been treated as "open season" and "commercialised by these people".

The 41-year-old said the court battle had been a "horrible experience" for his family and that all he wanted was "an apology and some accountability".

He said the royal family's long-held mantra "never explain, never complain" meant he was unable to speak out before now.

"To sit here and go through this again and to hear them claim in their defence that I don't have any right to privacy is disgusting," Prince Harry said.

The duke then appeared to hold back tears as he told the court: "They have made my wife's life an absolute misery, my lord."

Prince Harry is among other high-profile figures suing Associated Newspapers for alleged unlawful information gathering, including Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley. The publisher denies any wrongdoing.

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It is his third major court battle accusing newspaper groups of unlawful behaviour to gather information.

Much of this case has focused on articles about Prince Harry's relationships before meeting Meghan, mainly 14 articles which were written about his relationship with former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.

He told the court the content of the articles made it "pretty convincing" that the information had come from his friends.

Prince Harry said: "That was the way the articles had been written – a source said this, an insider said this.

"When you are in a situation like this, the moment something private is out, your circle of trust and knowledge decreases over time.

"I would not have been able to complain about them anyway, because of the institution I was in – never complain, never explain."

He spoke about having to maintain "some kind of relationship" with some journalists who attended official events.

"These were people we were forced to work with. You had to have some kind of relationship," he said.

"Forced to perform for [despite] knowing what they are and knowing full well the kind of stories they have written about me and commercialised my private life."

But he told the court he could not remember two private calls he was said to have had with the Daily Mail's royal editor, Rebecca English, who wrote five of the articles the duke has complained about.

He did acknowledged that his official spokesman had provided information to the journalist to correct a report that another girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, would spend Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham.

The incorrect story, Prince Harry said, had "wider implications for my grandmother [Queen Elizabeth II]" who would not have allowed Bonas to join the family for the celebrations.

In his 23-page witness statement, Prince Harry said his approach to the media had changed in late 2016 "when my relationship with Meghan, my now wife, became public".

He wrote: "I started to become increasingly troubled by the approach of not taking action against the press in the wake of vicious persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles concerning Meghan.

"The situation got worse when she became pregnant and after our son, Archie, was born."

The trial, which began on Monday, is expected to run for nine weeks.

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