Prince Harry and Prince William have at loggerheads since the Duke of Sussex’s marriage to Meghan Markle
Prince Harry on Tuesday skipped a court hearing in a court case against News Group Newspapers (NGN).
Harry is suing News Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful activities carried out by journalists and private investigators working for its papers, the Sun and the defunct News of the World, from 1996 until 2011.
The Duke of Sussex is set to arrive next months to attend the eight-week trial.
Harry’s was set to steal the limelight away from the royal family with his presence in London but decided to delay his arrival.
His elder brother, Prince William chose the day to visit Centrepoint’s Ealing service, marking a significant milestone as he celebrates 20 years as Patron of the homeless charity.
According to the local media, Prince William has a longstanding commitment to supporting young people experiencing homelessness through the organisation.
With Harry’s decision not to attend today’s hearing, hundreds of tabloid media’s “King and Prince William” snub stories prepared for the day went in vain.
Instead it proved to be Prince Harry’s snub to “King Charles and Prince William” stories that were to be published on Tuesday.
Harry has said he wants to get to the truth, after about 40 other claimants, including actor Hugh Grant, settled cases to avoid the risk of a multi-million pound legal bill that could be imposed even if they won in court but had rejected NGN’s offer.
“They have settled because they’ve had to settle,” he told the New York Times Dealbook Summit last month. “One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability because I’m the last person that can actually achieve that.”
The NGN case is the latest lawsuit in Harry’s war with the British press which began shortly after his marriage to his American wife Meghan in 2018.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in March 2020 and moved to California, where they now live with their two children, a decision the prince says was largely due to intrusion, harassment and incitement to hatred from the tabloids.
Critics say he is seeking vengeance on papers for their coverage about him and his barbed comments against other members of the royal family after he used documentaries, his memoir and interviews to criticise editors and senior executives.
The eight-week trial will at first consider “generic issues” such as phone hacking and unlawful information gathering at the papers, whether senior NGN figures knew about it, and whether incriminating evidence had been deliberately destroyed.
It will also examine allegations NGN misled police and provided false statements to a public inquiry into media ethics held from 2011-12.
Specific evidence relating to Harry and another claimant, Tom Watson, a former Labour Party deputy leader, will then be scrutinised, with the prince himself expected to give evidence for at least two days, while former prime minister Gordon Brown is also expected to appear as a witness.
“His claim will be fully defended, including on the grounds that it is brought out of time,” a spokesperson for NGN said of Harry’s lawsuit.
The spokesperson said Watson had never been a target of hacking, and the allegation that emails had been unlawfully destroyed was “wrong, unsustainable, and is strongly denied”.
