Prince Harry to take witness stand in court fight against tabloid

London: Prince Harry will become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court in more than a century when he testifies this week in his lawsuit against a newspaper group he accuses of unlawful behaviour.

The Duke of Sussex, who quit as a working royal alongside his wife Meghan two years ago, will appear in the witness box at London’s High Court on Tuesday as part of the case he and more than 100 other celebrities and high-profile figures have brought against Mirror Group Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

Prince Harry leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London in March. Credit: AP

Harry, who is fifth in line to the throne, has been waging a war against the British press for much of his adult life and has created months of headlines over the release of his memoir and Netflix documentary series in which he accused other senior royals of colluding with tabloid newspapers.

He has previously said that changing the media landscape is his “life’s work” and the courtroom encounter could be one of his own defining moments.

It will be the first time a senior royal has given evidence since Edward VII testified as a witness as part of a divorce case in 1870 and – 20 years later in a slander trial over a card game – both before he became king. His mother, Queen Victoria, was said to be angry and embarrassed.

Although in 2002 Anne, the Princess Royal, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act after two children were bitten in Windsor Great Park by her dog.

Piers Morgan has denied any involvement in unlawful behaviour and has accused Harry of invading his own family’s privacy.Credit: AP

His appearance will be the second time this year that the duke has attended the High Court in London, after joining singer Elton John and others for hearings in March over their lawsuit against the publisher of the tabloids.

Harry also has lawsuits against Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, and against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of The Sun and the News of the World, the latter of which was closed in 2011 as a result of the phone-hacking scandal.

More than 100 people are suing MGN, with Harry and three others selected as test cases. The trial, which began last month, has been told MGN journalists or private investigators commissioned by them carried out phone-hacking on an “industrial scale”, and committed other unlawful acts to obtain information about the prince and the other claimants.

The court was told by a journalist and biographer of Harry last month that one of those who knew about hacking was former editor Piers Morgan, now one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and an outspoken critic of the prince and Meghan.

Morgan, who has denied any involvement in unlawful behaviour and has accused Harry of invading his own family’s privacy, left his job as a presenter on a TV breakfast show after making outspoken remarks about Meghan.

At the start of the trial, MGN, now owned by Reach (RCH.L), apologised in court documents and admitted that on one occasion the Sunday People had unlawfully sought information about Harry and that he was entitled to compensation. But it has rejected his other allegations, saying he had no evidence for his claims. Instead, Buckingham Palace is likely to feature prominently in Harry’s cross-examination, with MGN arguing that some information had come from royal aides.

MGN’s documents say one story about Harry came when his father’s former deputy private secretary and Morgan were having “regular meals and drinking sessions together”.

Giving evidence in person in the hacking trial will have significant risks for the duke, as he is likely to face the type of open, public and tough questioning that is a long way from any previous royal interview he has taken part in.

“This isn’t like taking questions from Oprah Winfrey in a celebrity interview,” Tim Maltin, managing partner of Maltin PR, which specialises in high-profile reputation management, told the BBC on Sunday.

“It is a hostile encounter with a highly skilled cross-examiner armed with a battery of techniques to undermine your credibility. Giving evidence is daunting … and cross-examination is far more often traumatic than cathartic.”

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