Prince Harry became the first member of the royalty to testify in court in over 130 years as part of the lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers for violating his privacy. In a shocking turn of events, he also addressed an old rumor that claims King Charles III is not his father and even said that several journalists tried to steal his DNA to prove it.
During the testimony, several articles were presented as evidence such as ‘Plot to rob the DNA of Harry’ and ‘Plot to steal Harry’s DNA’ which were published by The Sunday People in 2002. Harry explained that there was a plot to obtain his DNA to prove that James Hewitt, former British Army cavalry officer, was his biological father after having an affair with the late Princess Diana.
“Numerous newspapers had reported a rumor that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born. At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn’t actually aware that my mother hadn’t met Major Hewitt until after I was born. This timeline is something I only learned of in around 2014, although I now understand this was common knowledge amongst the defendant’s journalists.”
The Duke of Sussex had previously addressed this matter in his memoir ‘Spare’ a few months ago. According to him, British tabloids wanted to make a big deal out of the affair to force Diana out of the royal family:
“There was even talk that some reporters were seeking my DNA to prove it—my first intimation that, after tormenting my mother and sending her into hiding, they would soon be coming for me.”
Although Prince Harry was just a child when the rumor first came out, he also confessed that, even as an adult, he has felt the pressure to prove that King Charles III is indeed his father. As a result, his wife, Meghan Markle, has encouraged him to get a DNA test to put all the discussion in regards to this topic to rest.