Prince Harry has said Rishi Sunak’s government is at “rock bottom” and avoids scrutiny by getting “in bed” with friendly newspapers. The prince once again broke with royal protocol by using his appearance in the phone-hacking trial to criticise a serving government. He said democracy in the UK was threatened because British media outlets were working with the government to maintain the “status quo”. Harry told the high court that “our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government, both of which I believe are at rock bottom”. He used his witness statement in the phone-hacking court case against Mirror Group Newspapers to suggest British newspapers work closely with ministers to defend vested interests: “Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo.” Sunak’s spokesperson declined to comment on the intervention, saying: “You’ve heard repeatedly from the prime minister on the state of the country and his priorities, but I’m not going to get drawn into commenting specifically on that.” The prince suggested he had a moral duty to hold the British media to account. “They claim to hold public figures to account, but refuse to hold themselves accountable. If they’re supposedly policing society, who on earth is policing them, when even the government is scared of alienating them because position is power? It is incredibly worrying for the entire UK,” he said. Harry called on British journalists to expose those in the media who had “stolen or hijacked the privileges and powers of the press” or used “illegal or unlawful means for their own gain and agendas”. The prince was appearing at the high court to give evidence against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People tabloids. He said media intrusion had left him paranoid, and alleged journalists working for the newspapers hacked his phone and committed other illegal acts to obtain stories about his private life. Mirror Group Newspapers says Harry has no hard evidence to back up his allegations and “may have been confused by stories in other outlets”.