Dominic Casciani
Reporting from the High Court

Mr Justice Fancourt has allowed the trial to be adjourned until 14;00 GMT.

“I am a little concerned about the timetable overall,” he says. “On the other hand an hour or two in the context of eight weeks is not significant.

“If the parties can assure me that time will be beneficial and will produce some outcome, then I am willing to provide some further time - but it has to be the last adjournment.”

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

David Sherborne, the lawyer for Lord Watson and Prince Harry, has asked the judge for further time to discuss with his team, "until lunchtime".

It's the second delay he has requested this morning.

News Group Newspapers lawyer Anthony Hudson KC says he endorses the application for more time.

Mr Justice Fancourt grants the application - we now wait until 14:00 GMT for proceedings to resume.

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

Court has filled back up again, after the surprise appearance of Lord Watson.

After a break of an hour, proceedings have now restarted.

Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from outside the High Court

I’m outside the court building and Lord Tom Watson has just turned up.

That may be why lawyer David Sherborne asked for a delay to the start of the hearing, but we don’t know for sure.

Tom Watson was formerly Labour's deputy leader and is the other remaining claimant in this case alongside Prince Harry.

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

We’re still waiting for court to resume.

In the meantime, some seats have emptied out in the main courtroom.

Prince Harry’s lawyer has just gotten up and removed his wig, sharing a joke with colleagues before leaving.

The representatives of News Group Newspapers remain silently in the room.

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

Prince Harry is bringing to court claims that date back to the 90s. So why now?

The Duke of Sussex says he became aware they may have been targeted back in 2006.

But, he says as the scandal deepened, he held on for NGN to settle Royal Family claims under a "secret agreement" to avoid embarrassment in court.

NGN's lawyers have said this is "Alice in Wonderland stuff" - and the court has ruled it hasn't seen evidence of such a backroom deal.

That did not happen, and so here we are, all these years later, as Harry continues to fight against tabloid journalism for intruding on his private life.

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

This is a deeply personal battle for Prince Harry. It feels like a mission as much as a legal complaint.

His campaign against what he sees as the intrusions and the abuses of the tabloid press is woven into his own personal story - with links to the loss of his mother Diana and to his decision to leave the UK.

“The goal is accountability. It’s really that simple,” he told a media event in New York in December.

While others have settled their claims against NGN, he has doggedly pursued this case, and now finally he’s ready to have his claims heard in court.

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

We have been waiting patiently this morning for the proceedings to begin, but the first request from David Sherborne, Prince Harry's lawyer, is for a one-hour adjournment.

There are sighs in the room I am in, and murmurs begin between the press, as we get ready to sit for another hour.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Prince Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) - the parent company of The Sun and the long-closed News of the World - over alleged intrusion into his personal life.

Though the prince's allegations date back to 1996, he and his brother Prince William first became aware they may have been targeted in 2006.

The trial will look at a sample of around 30 stories published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 which the prince says contained information gathered by illegal means.

It marks the first time that NGN has had to defend itself against allegations that its journalists and executives across the whole organisation were involved in or knew about unlawful newsgathering techniques.

There will be hours of analysis of how the Sun got scoops such as "Emotional Harry rang Chelsy at midnight" - a story that ran almost 20 years ago to the day about his then-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.

Image source, Getty Images

Away from the London High Court, Rupert Murdoch, who owns News Corp, attended Donald Trump's inauguration on Washington DC yesterday.

News Group Newspapers [NGN] is the British press arm of his media empire.

• We've got a separate live page running on Trump's first official day back in the White House, which you can follow here

Image source, Reuters

News Group Newspapers (NGN) has settled cases brought by some 1,300 claimants, costing around £1bn including legal costs.

Actor Hugh Grant settled a privacy case against NGN last year - a case in which he claimed journalists had used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house. NGN denied the claims against it.

He said he "did not want to accept" the "enormous sum of money" he had been offered to settle, but that a trial was likely to prove "very expensive".

Actress Sienna Miller and former footballer Paul Gascoigne agreed a settlement in 2021 with NGN over alleged phone hacking. NGN did not admit any liability in relation to allegations of phone hacking at The Sun newspaper.

Other celebrities to have settled cases include actresses Julia and Nadia Sawalha and Michelle Collins, ex-television presenter Dani Behr, singer Dane Bowers, and former Coronation Street actor Richard Fleeshman.

Two claimants are now left: the Duke of Sussex and Lord Tom Watson.

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

You would be forgiven if you thought this was the next instalment of the very public phone hacking case involving Prince Harry that took place over the last few years.

However, that case was against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) - a different group of publishers.

Prince Harry successfully argued that MGN had gathered information on him in unlawful ways, from 1996 to 2010, and MGN had to cover all of the Duke's legal costs, and more than £300,000 in damages.

After the judgement, an MGN spokesperson said: "Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid compensation.".

Prince Harry also tried to bring phone hacking claims in this new case against News Group Newspapers - which includes The Sun - but he wasn't allowed due to time limitations.

Instead, this case will focus on 30 articles, which Prince Harry's team say were gained unlawfully. They will also argue that senior staff were involved in a cover-up, alleging they knew about the unlawful practices.

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Prince Harry will not be appearing at court in London for the first day of the News Group Newspapers hearing.

But he will be flying over from the US to give evidence, most likely next month.

This trial is going to be a marathon rather than a sprint. But when Prince Harry does appear it’s going to be one of the most dramatic moments in this courtroom showdown.

It made huge headlines when he appeared in a previous legal battle against the Mirror Group Newspapers in 2023 - becoming the first royal in modern times to go into the witness stand in this way.

He’s shown he’s ready to handle questions and he’s poised for another round.

Image source, Reuters

Prince Harry has accused British tabloids of unlawfully intruding into his life.

His legal battle marks the first time that News Group Newspapers (NGN) has had to defend itself against allegations that its journalists and executives across the organisation were involved in or knew about unlawful newsgathering techniques.

NGN long ago apologised for unlawful practices at the News of the World newspaper, but denies similar claims against The Sun - and Prince Harry's wider allegation of a corporate-wide cover-up.

It has settled cases brought by some 1,300 claimants, to the tune of around £1bn including legal costs. Those settlements left just two claimants - Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson.

When he launched his claim, Prince Harry alleged that more than 200 articles published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 contained information gathered by illegal means. The trial will look at a sample of around 30 stories in detail.

The second claimant, Lord Watson, says his phone was targeted around the time he was investigating the Murdoch newspapers at the height of the scandal almost 15 years ago.

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court

I’m waiting inside the Rolls Building after battling through the commuter-filled streets of Holborn.

I walked past huddles of camera crews outside, although Prince Harry will not appear in court today.

I’m joined by a large group of press gathered outside the courtroom doors, where seats are limited.

Everyone is vying for a place.

We’re all waiting for the highly anticipated case to kick off today, where Prince Harry and Lord Watson will argue against News Group Newspapers.

Stay tuned.

Barbara Tasch
Live editor

Good morning and welcome to our coverage as an eight-week trial opens this morning at the High Court in London where Prince Harry will allege that the Sun - and its owner News Group Newspapers (NGN) - were involved in unlawful newsgathering.

The former Labour MP, Lord Watson, is also involved in the case and claims NGN used voicemail interception.

The Duke of Sussex's legal battle against British tabloids for allegedly unlawfully intruding into his life reaches its most important moment today when his claims against the Sun and the long-closed News of the World come to trial.

They are the final two claimants in a case that has spanned almost two decades.

NGN long ago apologised for unlawful practices at the News of the World and closed it down in 2011. It denies similar claims against the Sun and Harry's wider allegation of a corporate-wide cover-up.

We've got reporters at the High Court to bring you the latest updates, so stay with us.