Sean Coughlan
Reporting from the High Court

There’s a real buzz around the court building as we wait for the hearing to begin – and that’s not just the helicopters flying above.

Outside is packed with cameras and photographers, inside the court is jammed with journalists and members of the public trying to bag a front-row seat.

There was even someone hanging around the entrance earlier with a big - and not particularly flattering - painting of Prince Harry and Meghan.

It’s a mixture of solemn legal process and the circus being in town.

Image source, Reuters

While we wait for the court proceedings to kick off, here's the moment Prince Harry arrived at the Rolls Building at the High Court in London shortly after 09:30 this morning.

Katie Razzall
Reporting from the court

I followed Prince Harry into the court. He looked relaxed - and the court staff who checked him through security looked (quietly) excited...

Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from the High Court

Image source, Reuters

We got a brief glimpse of Prince Harry as he arrived in a car outside court.

Dozens of photographs and camera crews only had a matter of seconds to get their shot as he made his way swiftly into the building.

He looked relaxed ahead of his appearance in the witness box, which is expected to last all day and possibly go into tomorrow.

Image source, Reuters

Harry versus Mirror: What he must show to winpublished at 09:43 British Summer Time 6 June 2023

09:43 BST 6 June 2023

Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent

The key thing to remember over the next two days is that Prince Harry isn't here to get a free pass to mouth off about the tabloid press.

He must show his best evidence that he was a victim of phone hacking and "unlawful information gathering".

His appearance will focus on 33 sample articles from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, covering events in the Duke's life from 1996 until 2009.

This is the important bit: he has to explain for each and every one of those articles why he believes the newspapers used unlawful techniques to help write them. He needs to bring facts - or overwhelmingly compelling circumstantial evidence - to court to back his claims.

The task for Andrew Green KC, the Mirror Group's barrister, is to demolish the prince's case brick by brick. The Legal 500 - a guide to top lawyers - describes him as "a fearless and fearsome cross-examiner”. So... expect fireworks.

Image source, Reuters

Prince Harry's Range Rover pulled in quickly outside the Rolls Building and didn't hang about.

Dressed in a dark suit, he walked straight into the court, passing the pack of photographers and other media poised outside.

Prince Harry has just arrived at the High Court in central London, where he will give evidence in his case against publisher Mirror Group Newspapers.

He’ll be giving evidence for the first time today, and becomes the first senior member of the Royal Family in modern times to be cross-examined in court.

Prince Harry, and three other people, are taking a newspaper publisher to court, alleging information about them was illegally gathered to generate stories.

As part of this illegal gathering, 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.

Jemma Crew
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

It is five minutes before the High Court's Rolls Building is due to open, and the queue to get in stretches down almost the whole side of the courthouse.

Dozens of camera crews are poised to capture the arrival of the Duke of Sussex. But so far there has been no sign of the royal.

Cross-examination is not like an Oprah interviewpublished at 08:31 British Summer Time 6 June 2023

08:31 BST 6 June 2023

Sean Coughlan
From the High Court

Image source, JOE PUGLIESE / HARPO PRODUCTIONS / CBS

Prince Harry has two of the key requirements for this legal battle: a single-minded determination to keep going without settling - and being rich enough to take the financial hit if he loses.

But giving evidence in person in this trial is going to have big risks for him, facing the type of open, public and tough questioning that is a long way from any previous royal interview.

Tim Maltin, a managing partner of a legal PR firm specialising in high-profile reputation management, tells me: "This isn't like taking questions from Oprah Winfrey in a celebrity interview.

"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."

One of the early arguments in court yesterday was about why Prince Harry wasn't in court for day one.

The judge, Mr Justice Farncourt, said he was a “little surprised” by the duke’s absence.

He had earlier directed that he should be available to start giving evidence on Monday afternoon, in case opening statements from both sides were completed in time.

Harry’s no-show also drew criticism from MGN’s lawyer, Andrew Green KC. He accused the prince’s side of “wasting time”, saying it was “absolutely extraordinary we were told just last week he is not available for day one of his own trial.”

MGN had asked for Harry to be available on Monday to give evidence - but the BBC was told last Friday by his legal team that he would not be.

David Sherborne, representing Harry, said the duke had flown in from Los Angeles after his daughter’s birthday, but added: "He is in a different category from the three other claimants due to his travel and security arrangements."

MGN will now have today, and tomorrow if needed, to cross-examine the duke.

Image source, PA Media

• Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said the prince was subjected to unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking, since school
• Sherborne said these methods, which continued into adulthood, “acted like a web” around the prince
• The stories in question concern the prince and his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy, as well as an alleged row between the duke and his brother Prince William
• But Andrew Green KC, representing MGN, said there was no evidence that Harry had been hacked
• Green said none of the whistle-blowing journalists who admitted phone hacking on other stories said they had hacked the prince’s phone
• Green also accused Harry of "wasting time" by not appearing in court on day one
• The judge said he was a “little surprised” to hear the duke would not be attending

Harry's high noon in the High Courtpublished at 07:56 British Summer Time 6 June 2023

07:56 BST 6 June 2023

Sean Coughlan
From the High Court

Prince Harry is breaking the unspoken taboo about a royal going into the witness box to face what could be very embarrassing questions.

Part of the mystique of the monarchy is in saying little and answering less. That won't be possible in an open court - but it's something that Prince Harry clearly feels is worth the risk.

His grievance with the excesses of the press is deeply personal and emotional. He's facing down his ghosts.

This is a court confrontation that you could almost trace directly back to the death of his mother Diana, in a car crash in Paris in 1997 when she was being pursued by paparazzi.

He has repeatedly connected that moment to his battle with the tabloid press. It's his day of reckoning - his high noon in the High Court.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Prince Harry's legal case against Mirror Group Newspapers.

Yesterday, both sides' lawyers set out their cases at the High Court in London - but today, we're expecting the prince himself to appear in court and give evidence.

When he does, he'll be the first senior royal since the 19th Century to testify in a court.

We have a team of reporters at the court, and analysts waiting to interpret what we hear.

Stay here for all the latest updates.