An emotional Prince Harry denied being ‘Mr Mischief’ during a dramatic High Court showdown.

There was tension and near tears as the Duke of Sussex was cross examined in his case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) on Wednesday. Just as his evidence came to an end, Prince Harry’s voice cracked with emotion as he said of the Daily Mail publishers: “They continue to come after me. They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my lord.”

Hours earlier it had been a different picture as smiling Prince Harry appeared upbeat, speedily climbing up the steps into the Royal Courts of Justice precinct, passing a ‘Danger slippery surface’ warning sign, as he walked. He called ‘morning’ and waved to reporters and members of the public at least five times, even giving a thumbs up before vanishing inside.

The upbeat mood continued at the start of proceedings with laughter erupting in court when David Sherborne, representing Harry asked how he would like to be addressed, and if this would be as “Your Royal Highness”.

Harry replied: “Same as last time.” When asked how that was, Harry added: “I can’t remember”. This prompted laughter from the packed courtroom, with Mr Sherborne confirming it was as “Prince Harry”.

But the Prince appeared more frosty when he was cross examined by ANL’s barrister Mr Antony White KC.

The Duke of Sussex denied using a Facebook profile under the name “Mr Mischief” to message a Mail on Sunday journalist. The court heard this journalist, the newspaper’s then-diary editor Charlotte Griffiths, moved in the duke’s “social circles”.

Harry replied: “I have never used the name Mr Mischief” and denied meeting the journalist in Ibiza.

He claimed he’d only ever travelled to the island with his wife the Duchess of Sussex and son Prince Archie.

“The only time I’ve been to Ibiza was with my wife and son,” he said.

He said he met Ms Griffiths once at a weekend gathering hosted by his friend Arthur Landon, but had no idea who she was and found out the next day.

In written submissions, Mr White said that Ms Griffiths will give evidence that she “personally mixed in the Duke of Sussex’s social circle at parties, social events and nightclubs and obtained stories about him and his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy from their respective friends and associates and from their and their friends’ social media posts”.

As the Duke sat answering questions in the Royal Courts of Justice, he had to stoop forward to reach the microphone. He told how he was unable to complain about the articles at the time “because of the institution I was in.”

In his written statement the Duke claims it was the attacks on his wife Meghan Markle which led to him taking legal action against the publisher of The Daily Mail.

“In late 2016, when my relationship with Meghan, my now wife, became public, 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 court heard.

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

“This was the first time I had my own legal representation outside of the Institution. Until that point, this had never occurred to me to be a possibility.”

Prince Harry’s claim relates to 14 Associated Newspapers articles – many about Chelsy Davy who was described as his ‘one true love’. He claims the newspaper’s methods of information-gathering also created a ‘massive strain’ on personal relationships and left his former girlfriend ‘terrified’.

The duke, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley are all bringing legal action against ANL over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

They claim stories came from hacking voicemail messages, bugging landlines and obtaining private information by deception, known as “blagging”.

But Associated has denied any wrongdoing and also argue that this case has been brought too late – as the law indicates privacy claims such as this one should be brought within six years.

All the articles Harry and the other claimants are relying on for this case were published between 1993 and 2011.

The Duke of Sussex, who has previously described himself as a “dragon slayer” in written submissions about his claim, had several tense exchanges with the ANL barrister as he gave evidence.

Mr White KC, suggested to the Duke of Sussex that he knew his social circle was “leaky”.

But Harry replied: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.” He added that if he became suspicious of someone, “I would have to cut contact with this person”.

Prince Harry repeatedly took issue with Mr White KC, prompting the Judge to intervene.

Mr Justice Nicklin warned the Duke not to argue back.

“Part of Mr White’s job is to put allegations to you,” he told the fifth in line to the throne.

“This is a big moment… you are doing exactly what lots of litigants do – you tend to argue back about what he is putting to you.”

The judge told the Duke: “You don’t have to bear the burden of arguing the case today.. that’s for Mr Sherborne.”

In his witness statement for the trial, the Duke of Sussex said he has always had an “uneasy relationship” with the press.

He said: “Following the death of my mother in 1997 when I was 12 years old and her treatment at the hands of the press, I have always had an uneasy relationship with them.

“However, as a member of the Institution the policy was to ‘never complain, never explain’.

“There was no alternative; I was conditioned to accept it. For the most part, I accepted the interest in my performing my public functions.”

He said of the stories which make up his claim: “The stuff in these articles is not the kind of stuff I would talk about openly.”

The Duke of Sussex claimed it was “beyond cruel” to publish an article about “confidential discussions” he had after a photo of a dying Diana, Princess of Wales was published in the Italian press.

In his written evidence, Harry described an article published in the Daily Mail in July 2006 as “really disgusting”, saying he was having private discussions with his brother, the now-Prince of Wales.

He also described other articles as ‘creepy’.

Before his evidence to the court began, a source close to the duke accused ANL of “game-playing and dirty tricks” by failing to inform the court their opening argument would “last less than two hours”.

The source continued: “They think that by pulling the schedule forward 24 hours they are giving Prince Harry less time to prepare – he’s been preparing for this moment for the last three years. “Safe to say, he’s ready.”

In response, an ANL spokesperson said: “Prince Harry has been in London since the weekend ready to give evidence in this case, which he launched three-and-a-half years ago. We don’t intend to dignify this briefing by the other side with any further comment.”

The trial is due to conclude in March, with a judgment due in writing at a later date. The hearing continues