Prince Harry’s lawyer said he will be ready to testify in a London court on Tuesday in his lawsuit against the publisher of a British tabloid, prompting the judge to say he was “surprised” by his absence on Monday.
Harry, King Charles’ younger son, was scheduled to appear in court on Monday and be questioned on the witness stand on Monday or Tuesday, becoming the first senior British royal to testify in court in 130 years.
He is one of over 100 high-profile individuals suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, for alleged phone hacking and other illegal behavior between 1991 and 2011.
The trial began last month, with lawyers for Harry and three other test claimants attempting to demonstrate that illegal information gathering was carried out with the knowledge and approval of senior editors and executives.
Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, informed the judge, Timothy Fancourt, that the prince would not be present at Monday’s hearing, which was held in a modern courtroom at the High Court’s Rolls Building, which was packed with media and a few members of the public.
Sherborne stated that Harry flew from his Los Angeles home on Sunday evening after attending his daughter Lilibet’s second birthday, but was unavailable to testify on Monday.
Fancourt stated that he was “surprised” after requesting that the first witness in each of the four test cases appear in court on the first day of their respective cases. The absence of the prince was described as “absolutely extraordinary” by MGN’s lawyer, Andrew Green.
He wants to question Harry for more than a day about 33 articles he claims were based on illegally obtained material.
PALACE AIDES
MGN, which is now owned by Reach (RCH.L), apologized at the start of the trial for one admitted instance in which the Sunday People sought information about Harry illegally, accepting that he was entitled to compensation.
However, it has rejected his other allegations, stating that he lacked evidence to back up his claims. Buckingham Palace will almost certainly come up in Harry’s cross-examination, with MGN claiming that some information came from royal aides.
In court documents, Harry claims that the alleged illegal activities caused him “huge distress” and paranoia and that he blames it for the breakdown of his relationship with ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
Harry will appear in the High Court for the second time this year, after joining singer Elton John and others in March for hearings on their lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mail tabloids.
In the last six months, Harry, the fifth in line to the throne, has barely been out of the news.
He is involved in a number of legal battles with the British press, including a phone-hacking case against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm.
In his memoir and Netflix documentary series, the prince has also accused his family and their aides of colluding with tabloids. The palace has not responded to the allegations.
