Prince Harry’s legal action against the publisher of The Sun newspaper, over allegations of unlawful information gathering, is due to begin today.
The Duke of Sussex is one of two claimants, alongside former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, who are continuing their claims against News Group Newspapers (NGN).
NGN has always denied unlawful activity at The Sun.
The claim is separate to the phone hacking case Harry brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which was heard by the High Court in 2023.
The court ruled that phone hacking was carried out by MGN journalists from 1996 to 2011, and was “widespread and habitual” from 1998.
The newspaper publisher agreed last year to pay “a substantial additional sum” in damages to the duke, as well as his legal costs – on top of the £140,600 already awarded to him by judges.
So how is this trial different, and what can we expect to happen in court?
Who is involved?
Prince Harry and Lord Watson are the only two claimants going forward with legal action against the publisher.
The court was told back in November that 39 cases have been settled since a hearing last July.
Former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson is also pursing a claim against the publisher. Pic: PA
This includes actor Hugh Grant, actress Sienna Miller, ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, comic Catherine Tate and Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm.
Harry told a New York Times summit at the end of last year that one of the main reasons he was pursuing the case was because the others “had to settle”.
Other names you may hear in court are David Sherborne, the lawyer representing Harry, and Mr Justice Fancourt, the judge presiding over the case.
Who are News Group Newspapers?
NGN publishes The Sun newspaper and used to publish the now-defunct News Of The World, which closed in 2011.
It is a subsidiary company of News UK, which is owned by News Corp, the corporation owned by Rupert Murdoch.
NGN still publishes The Sun newspaper. Pic: PA
News UK also owns papers including The Times and The Sunday Times, but they are published by a different subsidiary company.
In 2011, NGN issued an unreserved apology for widespread phone hacking carried out by journalists at the News of the World which Mr Murdoch shut down.
The publisher has since paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World, and settled claims brought by more than 1,300 people.
But it has always denied any unlawful activity at The Sun, and the upcoming trial will be the first to examine specific allegations against the paper, which was previously edited by Rebekah Brooks, who is now chief of News UK.
What are the allegations?
Harry alleges that he was unlawfully targeted by journalists and private investigators working for NGN.
The court ruling will therefore decide if any of the NGN articles were the product of unlawful information gathering, such as information being tricked or “blagged” out of phone companies by private investigators.
The decision will stop short of ruling over phone hacking allegations, after Harry was denied permission by the court to bring those allegations to trial.
The duke had already lodged civil claims against NGN at the High Court, but in March last year, he sought to amend his case to add new allegations, including that The Sun ordered private investigators to target his then girlfriend – and now wife Meghan – in 2016.
The High Court refused this, ruling that the duke could not add new allegations relating to the years 1994, 1995 and 2016 to his case.
He was also denied permission to pursue allegations against Rupert Murdoch himself, and his argument that there had been a “secret deal” between the publisher and senior royals, was also rejected.
In November last year, the two sides returned to court in London to ask a judge to rule on preliminary issues before the trial began.
Lord Watson was also at the hearing.
Mr Justice Fancourt ruled Harry could use further emails between executives of the publisher of The Sun and members of the royal household that were sent between 2013 and 2019, in his legal claim.
What were the allegations against MGN?
Harry’s court case against the Daily Mirror publisher Mirror Group Newspapers began in May 2023.
He was part of a group litigation that also saw soap stars Nikki Sanderson, Michael Le Vell (Turner), and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse, as claimants.
Together, they accused MGN journalists or private investigators of phone hacking on an “industrial scale” and obtaining private details by deception, and said that senior editors and executives knew and approved of such behaviour.
Pic: Reuters
Phone hacking involves intercepting private voicemail messages on another person’s device. This could be done remotely, and all it required was knowing someone’s mobile number.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Fancourt concluded that phone hacking and unlawful information-gathering techniques such as “blagging” took place at the Mirror Group from 1996 to 2011.
He said it was “widespread and habitual” from 1998, and that its journalists continued to hack phones “to some extent” during the Levison Inquiry into media standards in 2011 and 2012.
The judge concluded Harry’s phone had been hacked “to a modest extent” between 2003 and 2009, and 15 of 33 news articles he complained about were the product of unlawful techniques.
What will happen in court?
The case against The Sun will be heard in the Rolls Building of the High Court. It is due to last for eight to 10 weeks.
It will consider specific claims brought by both Harry and Lord Watson, as well as “generic” allegations of wrongdoing by NGN staff, including editors and other senior figures.
Harry could take to the stand himself, to be cross-examined for four days.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown is also expected to appear in court as a witness.
What has NGN said?
NGN has always denied unlawful activity at The Sun.
A spokesperson for the publisher said ahead of the start of the trial: “His [Harry’s] claim will be fully defended, including on the grounds that it is brought out of time.”
The spokesperson added that Lord Watson had never been a target of hacking, and the allegation that emails had been unlawfully destroyed was “wrong, unsustainable, and is strongly denied”.