Court is going through the articles from more than 20 years ago
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
The court is going through the details of more of the disputed newspaper
articles about Prince Harry, some of which are from more than 20 years ago.
The Prince has said that changing the media landscape is his “life’s
work” - but this is also a glimpse of how massively the media has already
changed since these inky tabloid pages were first published.
The Daily Mirror was selling 2m daily copies 20 years ago – but according to
the most recent ABC circulation figures, it’s now averaging below 300,000.
The era of the
tabloid heyday is a world away from the current media landscape dominated by
digital news and social media.
Cross-examination could be a bruising experience for Prince Harry - lawyer
While our team in court monitor proceedings as the hearing resumes, here are some thoughts from Matthew Dando, a media lawyer and partner at Wiggin law firm.
He's told
the BBC the trial could be a bruising experience for Prince Harry, who is likely to face cross-examination tomorrow.
Dando says the stakes are incredibly high and giving evidence adds elements
of uncertainty.
"The process of cross-examination is incredibly bruising. That is its
purpose - to test credibility," he adds.
"It is seeking to undermine, it is seeking to challenge and there
is very little which is off limits. It could
stray into all areas of personal and private life."
Hearing resumes
This afternoon's session at the High Court is now under way.
Stay with us for the latest.
'Harry will be seen as the underdog'
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Prince Harry arrives at the High Court in London for a hearing in March 2023Image caption: Prince Harry arrives at the High Court in London for a hearing in March 2023
Royal commentator Pauline Maclaran believes the rest of the Royal Family will be "watching with an element of horror".
But she also thinks taking a stand like this could boost Prince Harry's popularity, particularly among young people.
Rather than being accused of being privileged or entitled, she tells me in this court case "he'll be seen as the underdog, and that's a good position to be seen in".
"Many young people will see him as quite a heroic figure, fighting the establishment," says Maclaran, an academic at Royal Holloway, University of London.
"It could be good for Harry in the long run, even though the older generation will be tut-tutting," she adds.
The newspaper stories at the heart of Prince Harry’s hacking claim
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Prince Harry playing the Eton Wall Game in 2003Image caption: Prince Harry playing the Eton Wall Game in 2003
In this case, the judge will examine in minute detail 33 sample stories published in the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People - part of 147 that the Duke of Sussex's lawyers say were the fruits of illegal newsgathering between 1996 and 2010.
Mirror Group Newspapers has told the court that in the vast majority of the sample, it can show the story was legitimately sourced. The judge will decide who is right.
The earliest allegation to be tested dates from 1996 when the Daily Mirror reported the prince's mother Diana had spent just 20 minutes with him on his 12th birthday
Another one is from school years; the newspaper reported in November 2000 Harry had had "a minor operation" on his arm after a football-related injury at Eton, detailing specific advice from his doctors
The largest chunk of articles concern the prince's love life. One example is the April 2009 article in The People which reported Prince Harry had been "bombarding" Chelsy Davy - with whom Prince Harry was in an on-off relationship between 2004 and 2010 - "with calls in a bid to win her back"
You can read more about the other stories at the heart of the case in this piece by our legal correspondent Dominic Casciani.
What this case is about - in 100 words
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
Prince Harry, and three other people, are taking a newspaper publisher to court, alleging information about them was illegally gathered to generate stories.
They believe journalists from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People exploited a security gap to access their voicemails and hear messages left by friends and family.
Mirror Group Newspapers has previously admitted phone hacking took place, but says it didn’t in these cases.
This is a test case - if Harry and the other claimants win, the judge will use it to set the level of damages (amount of money) MGN could pay in other cases from other celebrities.
What's been happening?
If you're just joining us, we're following a key day in the trial as Prince Harry takes action against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). While the court breaks for lunch, here's a quick recap of what's going on:
Lawyers for MGN accused Prince Harry of “wasting time” in the case by not being present in court today - he is expected in the witness box tomorrow
MGN’s lawyers had asked for Prince Harry to be available today to give evidence but the BBC was told on Friday by his legal team he would not be.
MGN's lawyer Andrew Green KC said it was "absolutely extraordinary" he was "not available for day one of his own trial"
The judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, said he was "a little surprised" that Harry was not there
Prince Harry and three others accuse the publisher of using unlawful means - including phone hacking - to gather information for stories about them
In
court, Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne has been highlighting some of the 33
stories which form part of this claim, saying "every facet" of Harry's life was splashed across the papers
Sherborne has questioned why certain witnesses, such as Mirror group journalists, aren't giving evidence
MGN
denies phone hacking in this case and says it can show the vast majority of the 33 stories were legitimately sourced
Court breaks for lunch
Today's hearing is now taking a break for lunch, and proceedings will resume in about an hour.
We'll continue to bring you updates and analysis from what we heard during this morning's session.
Lawyer outlines alleged gathering of Harry's medical history
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
David Sherborne has now shown the court this November 2001 story about Prince Harry apparently sidelined from school rugby because of a back injury.
The Duke's lawyers say that the article, which details doctors' advice to the young prince, is a breach of medical confidentiality.
"We say [it has] the tell-tale signs of unlawful information gathering," says the lawyer, adding that the journalist who wrote it can be linked to payments to private investigators.
Mirror Group says the supposedly private information in the story would have been known in Eton, where Harry was a student, and the story came from a confidential school source.
CrownCopyright: Crown
Nothing in Harry's life was out of bounds, court told
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
David Sherborne is continuing with his opening statement,
and tells the court how Prince Harry was subjected to unlawful information
gathering activity “right from when he was a young boy at school”.
There was no time or area in his life “when he was safe from
this activity”.
“The one place where he might escape some of the pressures
of that is to make relationships and friendships away from the cameras. Nothing
was sacrosanct or out of bounds," he says.
Here's the first of the alleged illegal articles
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
CrownCopyright: Crown
Dating from 1996, it's a story that did two things. It said that the late Princess Diana spent only a short time with her son on his 12th birthday.
Secondly, further down, it detailed the young prince's apparent concerns for the health of one of his father's trusted gardeners.
It should be noted that the Camilla article on the left is not part of this case.
Harry lawyer bemoans lack of witnesses
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
Julia QuenzlerCopyright: Julia Quenzler
An artist's impression of David Sherborne in court todayImage caption: An artist's impression of David Sherborne in court today
Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne is talking to the
court about how MGN has failed to call certain witnesses – such as
journalists - to give evidence.
“The list of witnesses who are not being called in relation
to Prince Harry’s claim is so long that I will only identify them when I go
through individual articles,” he says.
He adds: “The same journalists who used these methods are not only still
employed but they have reached positions of seniority.”
Just two witnesses are being called in relation to the
Duke’s claim, Sherborne says.
Public seem to be only here for Harry
Tom Symonds
Home Affairs correspondent, reporting from court
The court has around 20 seats for reporters and another 20 for the public.
Since the confirmation that Prince Harry will not be here today, nearly half of the public section has emptied.
Judge's 'surprise' at Harry absence
Julia QuenzlerCopyright: Julia Quenzler
An artist's drawing of Mr Justice Fancourt at the High Court todayImage caption: An artist's drawing of Mr Justice Fancourt at the High Court today
The hearing has resumed and we'll bring you further updates from court soon, but here's a little bit more detail on the reaction from the judge to Prince Harry's no-show today.
Mr Justice Fancourt said he was a "little surprised" that Harry wouldn't be attending court today, after his lawyers said he would be there tomorrow instead.
The judge had asked that the
first witness in each of the four test cases appear in court on
the first day of their individual case.
"His travel arrangements are such and his security
arrangements are such that it is a little bit tricky," Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, told the court.
How does Prince Harry's team win this courtroom battle?
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
The most important aspect of this case to bear in mind in the coming days is that there is no smoking gun, no whistleblower who knows the Duke of Sussex was a victim of phone hacking.
So, at face value, does that make it hard for him to prove he was targeted?
His legal team argue MGN covered-up and destroyed potential evidence of unlawful information gathering - but there remains enough of a trail for the court to follow.
They want the judge to take MGN's existing admissions of hacking, look at the alleged gaps in the defence case - and then make inferences about how some stories about Prince Harry must surely have been unlawfully gathered.
The judge only has to rule for or against the Duke on the balance of probabilities.
'Plainly implausible' only one unlawful incident against Harry - lawyer
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
While there's a brief break in proceedings, we can bring you more from what we heard in court from Prince Harry's lawyer.
David Sherborne said it was “obvious” that stories
about Harry’s private life drove newspaper sales.
He referenced an admission by Mirror Group
Newspapers of one instance of unlawful information gathering in relation to the
Duke.
The court previously heard that a private investigator was
instructed by an MGN journalist at The People to unlawfully gather information
about Harry's activities at the Chinawhite nightclub on one night in
February 2004.
MGN apologised and said it would never be repeated.
Sherborne said that Prince Harry was “one of the most
written about individuals in this period”, and the suggestion that there was just
one instance of unlawful interception at just one of the group's newspapers was “plainly
implausible”.
Instead, he contended that this would have happened to Prince
Harry on “multiple occasions”.
He said Harry's number was found in the PalmPilot phone of
Nick Buckley, who was previously head of news at the Sunday Mirror, and was
described to the court as a “prolific hacker”.
Hearing to take short break
There will be a break in proceedings for 10 minutes.
We’ll continue to bring you updates and analysis from court when the hearing
restarts shortly.
Court urged to consider why journalists not giving evidence
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
David Sherborne for Prince Harry has asked the High Court to make "adverse findings" against the Mirror Group where it has chosen not to call journalists as witnesses to explain their sources for stories on Prince Harry.
"It is...important that journalists are not being called to give evidence about the articles that they wrote," he said.
"We say that there are a number of consequences that flows from that.
"Without a journalist coming along to give evidence, then the presumption of widespread and unlawful activity...cannot be displaced."
The blurred boundaries of Harry's public and private lives
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent, reporting from court
The court has been going through some of the disputed newspaper stories about Prince Harry – and it’s a reminder of just how odd his life in the royal bubble has been.
Getting ill at school, a row with his brother, worries about girlfriends, all the stuff of growing up, become news stories written about for the outside world.
The blurred boundary between public and private life has been a strange one all his life.
And when Prince Harry gives evidence in the High Court tomorrow, it will be under the “Dieu et Mon Droit” royal coat of arms, which is the motto of the monarch, his father.
'Every facet' of Harry's life splashed across paper - lawyer
He highlights a Daily Mirror front page exclusive of Harry having caught glandular fever aged 17.
A private argument between Harry and his brother makes a double page spread in the Sunday People, he tells the court.
And "Harry’s girl to dump him", is the headline of another front page in the Daily Mirror.
Sherborne says “every facet” of the Duke’s life was splashed across the paper.
Live Reporting
Edited by Marita Moloney and Heather Sharp
All times stated are UK
Court is going through the articles from more than 20 years ago
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
The court is going through the details of more of the disputed newspaper articles about Prince Harry, some of which are from more than 20 years ago.
The Prince has said that changing the media landscape is his “life’s work” - but this is also a glimpse of how massively the media has already changed since these inky tabloid pages were first published.
The Daily Mirror was selling 2m daily copies 20 years ago – but according to the most recent ABC circulation figures, it’s now averaging below 300,000.
The era of the tabloid heyday is a world away from the current media landscape dominated by digital news and social media.
Cross-examination could be a bruising experience for Prince Harry - lawyer
While our team in court monitor proceedings as the hearing resumes, here are some thoughts from Matthew Dando, a media lawyer and partner at Wiggin law firm.
He's told the BBC the trial could be a bruising experience for Prince Harry, who is likely to face cross-examination tomorrow.
Dando says the stakes are incredibly high and giving evidence adds elements of uncertainty.
"The process of cross-examination is incredibly bruising. That is its purpose - to test credibility," he adds.
"It is seeking to undermine, it is seeking to challenge and there is very little which is off limits. It could stray into all areas of personal and private life."
Hearing resumes
This afternoon's session at the High Court is now under way.
Stay with us for the latest.
'Harry will be seen as the underdog'
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
Royal commentator Pauline Maclaran believes the rest of the Royal Family will be "watching with an element of horror".
But she also thinks taking a stand like this could boost Prince Harry's popularity, particularly among young people.
Rather than being accused of being privileged or entitled, she tells me in this court case "he'll be seen as the underdog, and that's a good position to be seen in".
"Many young people will see him as quite a heroic figure, fighting the establishment," says Maclaran, an academic at Royal Holloway, University of London.
"It could be good for Harry in the long run, even though the older generation will be tut-tutting," she adds.
Read more: Prince Harry, hacking claims and the royal court case of the century
The newspaper stories at the heart of Prince Harry’s hacking claim
In this case, the judge will examine in minute detail 33 sample stories published in the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People - part of 147 that the Duke of Sussex's lawyers say were the fruits of illegal newsgathering between 1996 and 2010.
Mirror Group Newspapers has told the court that in the vast majority of the sample, it can show the story was legitimately sourced. The judge will decide who is right.
You can read more about the other stories at the heart of the case in this piece by our legal correspondent Dominic Casciani.
What this case is about - in 100 words
Prince Harry, and three other people, are taking a newspaper publisher to court, alleging information about them was illegally gathered to generate stories.
They believe journalists from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People exploited a security gap to access their voicemails and hear messages left by friends and family.
Mirror Group Newspapers has previously admitted phone hacking took place, but says it didn’t in these cases.
This is a test case - if Harry and the other claimants win, the judge will use it to set the level of damages (amount of money) MGN could pay in other cases from other celebrities.
What's been happening?
If you're just joining us, we're following a key day in the trial as Prince Harry takes action against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). While the court breaks for lunch, here's a quick recap of what's going on:
Court breaks for lunch
Today's hearing is now taking a break for lunch, and proceedings will resume in about an hour.
We'll continue to bring you updates and analysis from what we heard during this morning's session.
Lawyer outlines alleged gathering of Harry's medical history
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
David Sherborne has now shown the court this November 2001 story about Prince Harry apparently sidelined from school rugby because of a back injury.
The Duke's lawyers say that the article, which details doctors' advice to the young prince, is a breach of medical confidentiality.
"We say [it has] the tell-tale signs of unlawful information gathering," says the lawyer, adding that the journalist who wrote it can be linked to payments to private investigators.
Mirror Group says the supposedly private information in the story would have been known in Eton, where Harry was a student, and the story came from a confidential school source.
Nothing in Harry's life was out of bounds, court told
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
David Sherborne is continuing with his opening statement, and tells the court how Prince Harry was subjected to unlawful information gathering activity “right from when he was a young boy at school”.
There was no time or area in his life “when he was safe from this activity”.
“The one place where he might escape some of the pressures of that is to make relationships and friendships away from the cameras. Nothing was sacrosanct or out of bounds," he says.
Here's the first of the alleged illegal articles
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
Dating from 1996, it's a story that did two things. It said that the late Princess Diana spent only a short time with her son on his 12th birthday.
Secondly, further down, it detailed the young prince's apparent concerns for the health of one of his father's trusted gardeners.
It should be noted that the Camilla article on the left is not part of this case.
Harry lawyer bemoans lack of witnesses
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne is talking to the court about how MGN has failed to call certain witnesses – such as journalists - to give evidence.
“The list of witnesses who are not being called in relation to Prince Harry’s claim is so long that I will only identify them when I go through individual articles,” he says.
He adds: “The same journalists who used these methods are not only still employed but they have reached positions of seniority.”
Just two witnesses are being called in relation to the Duke’s claim, Sherborne says.
Public seem to be only here for Harry
Tom Symonds
Home Affairs correspondent, reporting from court
The court has around 20 seats for reporters and another 20 for the public.
Since the confirmation that Prince Harry will not be here today, nearly half of the public section has emptied.
Judge's 'surprise' at Harry absence
The hearing has resumed and we'll bring you further updates from court soon, but here's a little bit more detail on the reaction from the judge to Prince Harry's no-show today.
Mr Justice Fancourt said he was a "little surprised" that Harry wouldn't be attending court today, after his lawyers said he would be there tomorrow instead.
The judge had asked that the first witness in each of the four test cases appear in court on the first day of their individual case.
"His travel arrangements are such and his security arrangements are such that it is a little bit tricky," Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, told the court.
How does Prince Harry's team win this courtroom battle?
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
The most important aspect of this case to bear in mind in the coming days is that there is no smoking gun, no whistleblower who knows the Duke of Sussex was a victim of phone hacking.
So, at face value, does that make it hard for him to prove he was targeted? His legal team argue MGN covered-up and destroyed potential evidence of unlawful information gathering - but there remains enough of a trail for the court to follow.
They want the judge to take MGN's existing admissions of hacking, look at the alleged gaps in the defence case - and then make inferences about how some stories about Prince Harry must surely have been unlawfully gathered.
The judge only has to rule for or against the Duke on the balance of probabilities.
'Plainly implausible' only one unlawful incident against Harry - lawyer
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
While there's a brief break in proceedings, we can bring you more from what we heard in court from Prince Harry's lawyer.
David Sherborne said it was “obvious” that stories about Harry’s private life drove newspaper sales.
He referenced an admission by Mirror Group Newspapers of one instance of unlawful information gathering in relation to the Duke.
The court previously heard that a private investigator was instructed by an MGN journalist at The People to unlawfully gather information about Harry's activities at the Chinawhite nightclub on one night in February 2004.
MGN apologised and said it would never be repeated.
Sherborne said that Prince Harry was “one of the most written about individuals in this period”, and the suggestion that there was just one instance of unlawful interception at just one of the group's newspapers was “plainly implausible”.
Instead, he contended that this would have happened to Prince Harry on “multiple occasions”.
He said Harry's number was found in the PalmPilot phone of Nick Buckley, who was previously head of news at the Sunday Mirror, and was described to the court as a “prolific hacker”.
Hearing to take short break
There will be a break in proceedings for 10 minutes.
We’ll continue to bring you updates and analysis from court when the hearing restarts shortly.
Court urged to consider why journalists not giving evidence
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
David Sherborne for Prince Harry has asked the High Court to make "adverse findings" against the Mirror Group where it has chosen not to call journalists as witnesses to explain their sources for stories on Prince Harry.
"It is...important that journalists are not being called to give evidence about the articles that they wrote," he said.
"We say that there are a number of consequences that flows from that.
"Without a journalist coming along to give evidence, then the presumption of widespread and unlawful activity...cannot be displaced."
The blurred boundaries of Harry's public and private lives
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent, reporting from court
The court has been going through some of the disputed newspaper stories about Prince Harry – and it’s a reminder of just how odd his life in the royal bubble has been.
Getting ill at school, a row with his brother, worries about girlfriends, all the stuff of growing up, become news stories written about for the outside world.
The blurred boundary between public and private life has been a strange one all his life. And when Prince Harry gives evidence in the High Court tomorrow, it will be under the “Dieu et Mon Droit” royal coat of arms, which is the motto of the monarch, his father.
'Every facet' of Harry's life splashed across paper - lawyer
Jemma Crew
Reporting from court
Lawyer David Sherborne is taking the court through some of the 33 stories about Prince Harry that form part of his claim.
He highlights a Daily Mirror front page exclusive of Harry having caught glandular fever aged 17.
A private argument between Harry and his brother makes a double page spread in the Sunday People, he tells the court. And "Harry’s girl to dump him", is the headline of another front page in the Daily Mirror.
Sherborne says “every facet” of the Duke’s life was splashed across the paper.