Prince Harry makes surprise UK court appearance

Prince Harry has shocked onlookers by arriving in London flanked by bodyguards, but his father won’t see him. See photos, video.

King Charles is “too busy” to see the Duke of Sussex, who has made a last minute decision to attend a High Court hearing in London to sue the Daily Mail newspaper group over alleged phone hacking and misuse of private information.

Prince Harry attended the Royal Courts of Justice backing a legal claim against the paper’s publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd over alleged phone hacking and illegally gaining private information.

The expat prince flew commercial from California to London especially for the four-day preliminary hearing to show his “support” to a group of individuals who have launched the claim, including singer Elton John and actors Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley.

Prince Harry is surrounded by bodyguards as he makes a surprise appearance in London. Picture: Getty Images

“He won’t see the King whose diary is jam-packed, the monarch is in Germany this week and has prior engagements in the diary,” a royal insider said.

“Prince Harry has contacted his father’s office and has already been told he was too busy.”

The King is understood to be at Highgrove, Gloucestershire.

The Duke’s estranged brother, Prince William, is not in London. He and wife Princess Catherine are taking a break with their children as it is the half term school holidays.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London. Picture: Getty Images

It is the first time Prince Harry is believed to have returned to London since the funeral of the Queen in September, or since publishing his memoir, Spare.

Earlier on Monday Prince Harry shocked onlookers by making the unexpected appearance in the UK for the privacy hearing.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, smiled as he walked into the High Court in London surrounded by burly bodyguards.

Prince Harry’s court visit will clash with King Charles’ first state visit to Berlin. Picture: Supplied

The California-based royal hopes to win another battle against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, which has launched a bid to quash High Court claims brought by seven individuals, including Sir Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

The publisher has described the allegations as “preposterous smears”.

The four-day preliminary High Court hearing will consider legal arguments and a judge will decide whether the case will go any further, the BBC reports.

Prince Harry’s appearance underlines his strength of his convictions over his privacy and determination regarding the legal action.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London, for a hearing claim against Associated Newspapers Limited. Picture: Getty Images

DAY 1

The Duke of Sussex sat towards the back of the courtroom, periodically taking notes in a small black notebook as legal arguments were made.

Ms Frost sat two seats away from him.

Court proceedings began with a bid by ANL’s lawyers to have certain reporting restrictions imposed in the case.

ANL’s lawyer Adrian Beltrami said in written submissions that the legal actions have been brought too late and are “stale”.

David Sherborne, the lawyer for the group of high profile individuals, argued that, in some clients’ cases, the “unlawful acts” continued “until 2018”.

The Duke of Sussex outside the Royal Courts Of Justice. Picture: Getty Images

The group launched the legal action last year after becoming aware of “compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” by ANL, according to a statement by law firm Hamlins released in October 2022.

The judge will hear legal arguments relating to an application by ANL which claims that the claimants’ use of information is in breach of a restriction order made by Lord Justice Leveson.

When the legal action was announced in October, law firm Hamlins, which is representing Prince Harry and Frost, claimed the newspaper group hired private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside people’s cars and homes, commissioned individuals to surreptitiously listen into and record people’s private telephone calls, paid police officials, with corrupt links to private investigators, for inside, sensitive information and impersonated individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception, among other claims.

English actor and fashion designer Sadie Frost (R) leaves from the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London. Picture: AFP

Prince Harry’s lawyers claimed in court documents he was “deprived of important aspects of his teenage years” by the alleged unlawful actions of Associated Newspapers that left him full of “suspicion and paranoia” when articles containing information known only to his trusted circle were printed.

In the “Particulars of Claim” setting out the Duke’s case, his lawyers claim he was “shocked and appalled that Associated used their journalistic power and privilege to commit the unlawful acts without any legitimate justification and solely to compete with other tabloid newspapers for profit.”

“The claimant is horrified that Associated has to date successfully avoided proper scrutiny for its conduct through its cover-up and that it has behaved as if it is above the law,” the document states.

“The claimant is troubled that, through Associated’s unlawful acts, he was largely deprived of important aspects of his teenage years.

“In particular, suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associated’s publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a ‘suspect’, since he believed by the way the articles were written that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associated’s newspapers.”

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Picture: Getty Images

The document added: “Moreover, the claimant regards Associated’s unlawful acts to amount to a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.”

The High Court was also told Sir Elton and partner David Furnish’s landline at their home in Windsor was tapped by a private investigator on the instructions of Associated Newspapers Limited.

David Sherborne, the lawyer for the group of prominent individuals, said in the written submission: “They are also mortified to consider all their conversations, some of which were very personal indeed, were tapped, taped, packaged and consumed as a commercial product for journalists and unknown others to pick over, regardless of whether or not they were published.

“The hurt remains the same, knowing that their lives have been treated as a commodity and their precious, priceless moments of privacy degraded in this way.”

The High Court heard Sir Elton and his husband Mr Furnish had not seen a copy of their first child’s birth certificate before it was unlawfully obtained by ANL.

Sir Elton John leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Sir Elton and Prince Harry are among several claimants in a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Sherborne told the court: “Worse still was Associated’s unlawful obtaining of their first child’s birth certificate, before they had even seen a copy themselves.

“They were heartbroken by the derogatory headline that Associated attached to it, clearly calculated to profit and generate public sensation about an event that they had so carefully guarded to keep precious.”

A private investigator acting on behalf of ANL hacked actor Liz Hurley’s phone, placed a “sticky window mini-microphone” outside her home and bugged ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant’s car to unlawfully obtain information about her finances, travel plans and medicals during her pregnancy, the High Court was told.

In written arguments, barrister David Sherborne said Ms Hurley was left “shocked and mortified” by her alleged targeting.

“It left her sickened to see the snatched close-up picture of her baby’s face published by Associated when he was four months old with the new understanding that this intrusion was the exploitation of unlawful acts, deliberately directed at her with that intention,” Mr Sherborne added.

Prince Harry left the court giving waiting photographers a thumbs up and cheerily saying “okay guys, thank you”, before getting into a dark green Range Rover.

The hearing in front of Mr Justice Nicklin continues.

Originally published as Prince Harry makes surprise UK court appearance