Charles Spencer supports Prince Harry as royal testifies in court

Charles Spencer has taken to social media to share his support for Prince Harry as the latter took to the witness stand in London's High Court on Tuesday and Wednesday to testify in his privacy suit against Mirror Group Newspapers(MGN).

The younger brother of the late Princess Diana critiqued some of the media coverage of his nephew's court appearance and witness statement. In one Twitter post, he slammed Daily Mail columnist Amanda Platell's insinuation that the Duke of Sussex is still not over his relationship with ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy because he mentioned her name more than he mentioned his wife Meghan Markle's name.

She wrote, "Is Harry still obsessed with former love Chelsy Davy? Harry mentions her 118 times in court evidence, Meghan just five times. No wonder Meg's didn't show up!"

In response, Spencer called her "pathetic" and that she has "no shame and even less credibility." He also mentioned his past issue with the journalist writing, "Last time I heard from you, you were guilty of libelling me, as your employer at @DailyMailUK agreed. Now you're put up (by them?) to misrepresent significant legal evidence as if it was something trivial."

The 9th Earl Spencer also responded to a commenter who asked to be pointed "in the direction of the 'significant evidence' of phone hacking." He wrote back, "The tens of millions paid out by the @DailyMirror group to those they hacked, to start with. Hope that helps."

The 58-year-old also retweeted commentary from writer and strategist Alastair Campbell. In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the former adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote that Prince Harry made a "very good point re the damage done to trust in your own circle when stories appear and you have no idea where they come from."

He continued, "Some of the biggest fall-outs I had in No 10 arose from suspicions about who was briefing out confidential information."

Campbell added, "In several of the worst I now know that the information came not from internal sources but phone hacking or illegal blagging. Harry may not be able to prove that all of the stories referred to in court came from illegal activity. But that illegal activity was being conducted on a near industrial scale by several papers is beyond doubt."

"I believe in a free press. But I also believe in the rule of law. Both are essential to a healthy democracy. If both press and politicians defend breaches of the rule of law, we do not have a healthy democracy."

On Wednesday, Campbell wrote another commentary on Prince Harry's case which Spencer shared online and it read, "If you have a real interest in Harry's case I strongly recommend avoid reading the press coverage which is, as always when the interests of the press are concerned, largely skewed to suit the agenda of each paper's stance. Far better if you have time to find transcripts online."

Moreover, Spencer also liked tweets showing support for the Duke of Sussex and those criticising the British press. One read, "It's so important that people fully understand this. Harry is undertaking this difficult case for people who cannot afford to do it. He is standing up for everyone." Another said, "These people are vile."

Prince Harry filed a civil case against MGN for alleged unlawful journalistic practices, especially phone hacking, in retrieving information about his life, career, family, and past relationships. He presented articles written from 1996 to 2011 that he alleged contained information that was illegally obtained. He was cross-examined on his witness statement on Tuesday and Wednesday, after having missed his court appearance on Monday.