Prince Harry news – latest: ‘Row’ with William sowed ‘seeds of discord’ between brothers, court told

Prince Harry’s relationship with his brother, the Prince of Wales, suffered “mistrust” because of articles published by the Mirror publisher, the court has heard today.

The Duke of Sussex is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its titles - which also include the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People - were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

David Sherborne, for Harry, referred to a 2003 article which detailed an alleged row between the duke and his brother, now the Prince of Wales, over their mother’s former butler Paul Burrell.

The barrister said: “Even at this very early formative stage... the seeds of discord between these two brothers are starting to be sown.”

“Brothers can sometimes disagree,” Mr Sherborne said, adding: “But once it is made public in this way and their inside feelings revealed in the way that they are, trust begins to be eroded.

The barrister added: “One can see... how the mistrust can set in from an early age, exactly because of this type of activity.”

Key Points

• Alleged row with William sowed ‘seeds of discord’ between brothers, court hears

• Prince Harry accused of wasting court time after no-show at court today

• Duke to become first British royal in 130 years to give evidence in court

• Prince Harry set for witness box showdown in phone hacking trial against tabloid

• ‘Simply no evidence’ for many claims, trial told

Revealed: Princess Diana’s letter to Michael Barrymore over ‘secret meeting’

15:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Letters between the late Princess Diana and Michael Barrymore in which she discusses a “secret” meeting between the pair have been revealed in her son Prince Harry’s High Court trial against the Daily Mirror publisher.

The Duke of Sussex is one of four “test” cases among scores of complaints against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) being heard in London, alleging illegal information-gathering techniques such as phone hacking, which the publisher denies.

With Harry flying in from the US late on Sunday after celebrating his daughter Lilibet’s birthday, his lawyer David Sherborne presented his mother’s letters to the court on Monday as he sought to claim the duke had been impacted by unlawful press tactics since childhood.

Diana’s letter to Michael Barrymore over ‘secret meeting’ revealed at Harry trial

‘Discord’ between Prince Harry and Prince William referenced in court

15:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

David Sherborne, for Harry, referred to a 2003 article which detailed an alleged row between the duke and his brother, now the Prince of Wales, over their mother’s former butler Paul Burrell.

The barrister said: “Even at this very early formative stage... the seeds of discord between these two brothers are starting to be sown.”

“Brothers can sometimes disagree,” Mr Sherborne said, adding: “But once it is made public in this way and their inside feelings revealed in the way that they are, trust begins to be eroded.

The barrister added: “One can see... how the mistrust can set in from an early age, exactly because of this type of activity.”

Unlawful information gathering ‘acted like a web’ around Prince Harry, court hears

15:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Unlawful information gathering activities “acted like a web” around the Duke of Sussex and was carried out “beneath the radar” at MGN newspapers, Harry’s barrister told the High Court.

Resuming his opening of the duke’s case after a lunch break, David Sherborne continued to give examples of articles he said were linked to unlawful activities.

This included coverage of how Harry spent his 18th birthday, when he was made a godfather and when he contracted glandular fever.

Giving examples of payments to private investigators, Mr Sherborne said such activity included the alleged targeting of “one of the closest confidantes” of the duke, Guy Pelly.

“These methods acted like a web around the prince in the hope it would catch the valuable information that they sought through these unlawful means, some of which made it in stories,” Mr Sherborne said.

“Beneath the radar we see yet more unlawful information gathering methods being used.”

Judge expresses ‘surprise’ at Prince Harry’s failure to appear in court today

14:57 , Andy Gregory

A judge has expressed his “surprise” over the Duke of Sussex’s absence from the High Court as his individual case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over alleged unlawful information gathering got under way.

He was expected to arrive at court on Monday but his lawyers told the court he will not appear until Tuesday, when he is due to face cross-examination from MGN’s barrister.

David Sherborne, representing the duke and the other claimants, said as the hearing began on Monday that Harry had flown to the UK from Los Angeles in the US on last night, as he was celebrating his daughter Lilibet’s second birthday on Sunday.

Mr Justice Fancourt, the judge hearing the case, said he was “a little surprised” to hear the duke would not be attending court on Monday.

The judge said he gave a direction earlier in the trial that witnesses should be available the day before their evidence was due to be heard in case the legal teams’ opening speeches ran short.

Details of Princess Diana’s letters to Michael Barrymore read out in court

14:41 , Andy Gregory

The court has heard excerpts from letters between the late Princess Diana and entertainer Michael Barrymore, in which they discuss “secret” meetings at a time when he was “struggling”, which Prince Harry’s lawyer claims “plainly” points to phone hacking.

In one of the letters, Diana, the late princess of Wales, wrote: “What a joy it was to finally meet you tonight and it was a privilege to share so much with you.

“I did want to emphasise that I’m here for you whenever, it’s very easy to pop round and see you or please telephone now you have my number anytime. You’re doing just fine and believe me, I know. So take great care and lots of love from Diana.”

Princess Diana’s letters to Michael Barrymore over ‘secret’ meetings read out in court

14:19 , Andy Gregory

David Sherborne, Prince Harry’s lawyer, said his late mother Princess Diana was a “huge target” for MGN’s newspapers, adding that certain unlawful activities in relation to her would have also affected Harry.

“It is part of our case that the interception of her messages would necessarily have involved obtaining information about the young prince,” he said.

Mr Sherborne then read out letters exchanged between Diana and former television personality Michael Barrymore, which referred to “secret and highly sensitive” meetings between the pair at a time when the entertainer was in the process of an “acrimonious divorce” and undergoing treatment for addiction, after it was made public that he was gay.

In one of the two letters, Diana referred to being “devastated” to learn the “Daily Mirror” had called her office about him and their meetings, which she wrote that she had not told anyone about.

Mr Sherborne said that “plainly” the Daily Mirror had been “listening to the voicemail messages and that is how they knew of the secret and highly sensitive meetings between Princess Diana and poor Mr Barrymore”.

What we know about Prince Harry’s latest legal battle

14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The eyes of the media are turned to the High Court in London this week as the Duke of Sussex is set to give evidence in his legal action against the publisher of the Mirror.

Harry will enter the witness box tomorrow amid an ongoing trial over contested allegations of unlawful information gathering by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

Here we look at why the duke is coming to court and what the case is all about:

What we know about Prince Harry’s legal battle with Mirror Group Newspapers

Barrister gives timeline of when alleged actions began

13:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

David Sherborne, for the duke, said: “In January 1996 Prince Harry was just 11 years old, that is when his relevant period starts, and it was already a time of high interest for the defendant’s papers in what the royal family were doing.”

The barrister said Charles and Diana, the then-princess of Wales, had separated in 1996 and divorced the following year.

He added: “The first activity we say was directed towards (Harry) is the instruction to the notorious Media Investigations, one of (private investigator) Jonathan Rees’s aliases.”

Mr Sherborne said there was evidence showing a payment to Media Investigations on January 3 1996, in relation to “Tiggy” - a reference which he said was to Harry’s former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.

The barrister said an article was published in the Sunday People in January 1996 which was headlined “Charles in bust up over Tiggy”.

He then referred to another article published the same year with the headline “Harry rushed to hospital” and said it referred to Ms Legge-Bourke being by the duke’s side, having driven him to hospital, and was “comforting him” while his mother was away.

Unlawful information gathering began when Harry was ‘young boy at school,’ barrister claims

13:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

David Sherborne, for the duke, said Harry was “subjected to” unlawful information gathering activity “right from when he was a young boy at school”.

This carried on through “the tragic death of his mother”, his time during military training at Sandhurst and into adulthood.

The barrister said there was “no time in his life when he was safe from this activity”, adding: “Nothing was sacrosanct or out of bounds and there was no protection from this unlawful information gathering.”

Mr Sherborne told the court that some unlawful activity did not always result in an article and said the journalists who wrote the articles being considered during the trial were “frequent users of unlawful means”.

“It is likely that they would have used those same means in relation to the Duke of Sussex,” Mr Sherborne said.

Sherborne claims phone hacking is not ‘historical’ activity, court hears

13:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

David Sherborne told the judge that he could draw “adverse inferences” from MGN journalists not attending the trial to give evidence and “vouching” for how they obtained information.

Harry’s barrister told the court that some journalists not being called to give evidence “are still employees of the defendant”, adding: “This activity is not historical, the suggestion that it all took place years ago is misplaced”.

Mr Sherborne said these journalists were “not only still employed by they have reached positions of seniority”.

“The result of that is that there are, we say, a very large number of gaps,” Mr Sherborne said.

“Which leads the court to draw the adverse inferences that we ask.”

Harry’s phone ‘hacked on multiple occasions,’ Sherborne claims

12:52 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Prince Harry’s barrister David Sherborne claimed that the Duke of Sussex’s phone “would have been hacked on multiple occasions”, telling the court that his details appeared in the palm pilot of a journalist who was one of the “most prolific” phone hackers.

The barrister said Harry was “one of the most written about individuals” in MGN newspapers, with more than 1,000 articles disclosed to him for the 2007 to 2011 period covered by the Gulati case.

MGM made admissions of unlawful gathering in previous trial, Harry’s barrister tells court

12:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

David Sherborne, for Harry, said there were admissions by MGN of unlawful gathering in the previous High Court trial involving former Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati and others.

He said those included admissions relating to articles written by a number of journalists who wrote articles about the duke during the same-time period.

The barrister added: “We say it is an overwhelming inference ... that these journalists will have used the same unlawful methods to investigate, verify and write stories about Prince Harry, as they did about whichever of the claimants the did in the Gulati trial.”

Mr Sherborne said there was also people around Harry, including his then “confidant” Guy Pelly and his father the King’s then press secretary, whose details appeared in the palm pilots of MGN journalists.

He said 20 of the 33 articles the judge is considering in relation to Harry were written during that period.

Stories about Prince Harry’s private lives ‘drove sales,’ court hears

12:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

David Sherborne continued in his case opening: “It’s clear that stories about Prince Harry’s private life drove sales, it’s obvious.

“After all, articles were the ends,” the duke’s barrister said, adding: “These are the ends that justify the means for the defendant.”

“The unlawful means which is what this claim is about.”

The trial has previously heard that Mirror Group Newspapers “unreservedly apologises” to the duke for one instance of unlawful information gathering.

Andrew Green KC, for the publisher, previously said it was admitted 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 one night in February 2004.

But Mr Sherborne said on Monday: “The suggestion that there was just one instance of unlawful information gathering at just one of these newspapers we say is plainly implausible.

Details of duke’s life ‘too good not to publish,’ court hears

11:57 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Details of the Duke of Sussex’s life were “a story too good not to publish”, his barrister told the High Court.

Continuing his opening of Harry’s individual case, David Sherborne gave examples of articles published by Mirror Group Newspaper titles over his lifetime.

This included a “front-page exclusive” when was “still a schoolboy” about the duke being diagnosed with glandular fever, Mr Sherborne told the court.

Another example the barrister gave was a “private argument between him and his brother Prince William” which featured in a double-page spread in The People title. Mr Sherborne also cited a Daily Mirror story entitled “Harry’s girl to dump him” about his relationship with former girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

“Every facet of his life even... the ups and downs of his first serious relationships with Ms Davy is still splashed across the paper as an exclusive,” Mr Sherborne said.

“A story too good not to publish,” Mr Sherborne said, adding that the relationship was covered “in full technicolour glory”.

Princess Lilibet turns two: Harry and Meghan’s daughter celebrates very different birthday in US

11:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Princess Lilibet Diana turned two years old on Sunday (4 June).

The young royal, who is the second child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, celebrated her first birthday in the UK last year, but this time she was in Montecito, California, where the Sussexes now live after they stepped back from royal duties in 2020.

This marks a very different birthday for the family, who celebrated at Frogmore Cottage last year with British relatives in an intimate garden picnic. They were joined by Mike Tindall and Zara’s children Mia, nine, Lena, four, and Lucas, two.

Other guests included photographer and Chair of the Southbank Centre Misan Harriman and his wife and children, who took Lilibet’s portrait that day.

Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet celebrates very different birthday in US

Prince Harry’s barrister says duke’s claim against MGN is ‘very significant'

11:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Barrister for the claimants David Sherborne, opening Harry’s individual case on Monday, told the court the duke’s claim against MGN is a “very significant one” because it covered a long period between 1996 and 2011 and involved the “broadest range of unlawful activity”.

Mr Sherborne said there were “at least 30 different PIs (private investigators) used by MGN’s three titles - the Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

He added: “There is a reason why this was carried out on such a widespread scale ... and that is because the ends justified the means for the defendant.”

The barrister said there are 33 sample articles, out of 147 complained of by Harry, which are being considered by the judge for the trial.

Mr Sherborne said the 147 were a “fraction” of all the articles written about the duke’s private life during that time, adding that MGN disclosed “almost 2,500” articles published about him throughout that period.

He said the MGN newspapers had a “huge interest” in the royal family, the duke in particular, and “every aspect of his private life”.

Judge ‘surprised’ Harry is a no-show today

11:08 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Duke of Sussex was expected to arrive at court on Monday but his lawyers told the court he will not appear until Tuesday, when he is due to face cross-examination from MGN’s barrister.

David Sherborne, representing the duke and the other claimants, said as the hearing began on Monday that Harry had flown to the UK from Los Angeles in the US last night, as he was celebrating his daughter Lilibet’s second birthday on Sunday.

Mr Justice Fancourt, the judge hearing the case, said he was “a little surprised” to hear the duke would not be attending court on Monday.

The judge said he gave a direction earlier in the trial that witnesses should be available the day before their evidence was due to be heard in case the legal teams’ opening speeches ran short.

Andrew Green KC, for MGN, said he wished to have at least a day and a half to cross examine the duke and was “deeply troubled” he would not be attending before Tuesday, which may lead to “wasted time” on Monday afternoon.

Prince Harry no longer arriving at High Court today

11:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Duke of Sussex will no longer appear at the High Court today, but instead is expected to arrive at the High Court in London tomorrow.

Prince Harry will be giving evidence in person for his case against Mirror Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

10:27 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Prince Harry is due to arrive imminently at the High Court in London for his ongoing phone hacking trial. Stay tuned as we keep you updated with the latest.

‘I’ve not been called to give evidence’: What Piers Morgan has said about phone hacking accusations

09:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Piers Morgan has strenuously denied knowing “anything about” phone hacking at the Mirror and said he “couldn’t give a monkey’s cuss” about the High Court case brought by Prince Harry.

The Duke of Sussex and other celebrities including Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Le Vell have accused Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking and the use of private investigators.

What Piers Morgan has said about phone hacking accusations

Live: Prince Harry arrives at UK court for hearing in his case against Mirror group newspapers

09:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Live: Prince Harry arrives at UK court for hearing in his case against Mirror group newspapers

Prince Harry set for witness box showdown in phone hacking trial against tabloid

08:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Duke of Sussex is due to appear in the witness box this week for a court showdown in his ongoing phone hacking battle against some members of the British press.

Prince Harry is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its titles committed phone hacking and other illegal methods of obtaining personal information.

He has accused MGN’s papers, which include the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, of so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception and the use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

The duke has been asked to attend court on Monday in case the opening speeches finish before the end of the day, so there is a possibility he may enter the witness box on Monday afternoon. Otherwise he is expected to begin his evidence on Tuesday, when he will face cross-examination from MGN’s lawyers.

Prince Harry set for witness box showdown in phone hacking trial against tabloid

Harry to become first British royal in 130 years to give evidence in court

07:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Prince Harry will become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for 130 years when he testifies this week in his lawsuit against a newspaper group he accuses of unlawful behaviour.

Harry, King Charles’ younger son, will appear in the witness box at London’s High Court as part of the case he and more than 100 other celebrities and high-profile figures have brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

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

A timeline of Prince Harry’s legal battles – from phone-hacking to the Home Office

07:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Duke of Sussex is due to be cross-examined in the High Court this week as hearings get under way in his case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over the alleged unlawful gathering of information.

Prince Harry is suing Mirror Group Newspapers for damages, claiming journalists carried out or authorised phone-hacking, “blagging” or gaining information by deception and the use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

Even though he and his wife Meghan moved to California more than three years ago, he remains mired in several legal battles making their way through the British courts.

Most of the cases relate to alleged intrusion and illegality by the media – behaviour that Harry recently said he now views as his “life’s work” to curtail.

Phone-hacking and Home Office: What legal claims has Prince Harry been involved in?

What we know about Harry’s latest legal battle

07:00 , Jane Dalton

Why the duke is going to court and what the case is all about. Report by Tom Pilgrim of PA:

What we know about Prince Harry’s legal battle with Mirror Group Newspapers

King away on holiday as Harry visits London

05:00 , Jane Dalton

The King will miss his son’s visit to London as he is due to be in holiday in Romania for five days:

King Charles to miss Prince Harry’s London visit as he holidays in Romania

When Princess Anne appeared in court

03:00 , Jane Dalton

It is thought to be the first time a senior member of the royal family has personally appeared in court proceedings since 2002, when the Princess Royal pleaded guilty to a charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act after her pet bit two children in Windsor Great Park. Here’s our coverage of the case at the time:

Regina v The Princess. Defendant 2595640 is ordered to pay £500

Harry ‘hoped for apology from family'

01:00 , Jane Dalton

A month ago, Prince Harry attended the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla – but his wife Meghan Markle stayed at home in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The prince arrived at Westminster Abbey alone, and was assigned to sit two rows behind his brother, and then he left alone.

The Duke of Sussex has been seeking an apology from his family, according to his television interviews in January.

Girlfriend article ‘obtained legitimately'

Monday 5 June 2023 00:01 , Jane Dalton

A 2004 Daily Mirror article about the Duke of Sussex’s then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy was “obtained legitimately”, a former journalist and news editor has told the High Court:

Former Mirror journalist says story on Harry’s ex Chelsy Davy ‘obtained legally’

The 33 articles at the heart of the case

Sunday 4 June 2023 23:00 , Jane Dalton

Some 33 articles, dated between 1996 and 2009, have been selected for examination during the trial of Harry’s contested claim against MGN.

The company has told the trial in London that it denies that 28 out of the 33 articles involved unlawful information gathering and that it was not admitted for the remaining five articles.

The publisher claims the stories came from a range of sources, including information disclosed by royal households or other royals, freelance journalists and news agencies as well as confidential sources with “extensive” royal contacts.

These are the 33 articles:

The newspaper articles the Duke of Sussex claims involved unlawful activity

Duke’s other battles

Sunday 4 June 2023 21:00 , Jane Dalton

The duke is no stranger to fighting legal cases. Here are his other battles:

What to know as Prince Harry prepares to take on a British tabloid publisher in court

Three other test cases to be considered

Sunday 4 June 2023 19:10 , Jane Dalton

Harry’s case, alongside those of former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson, actor Michael Turner - known professionally as Michael Le Vell - and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman are being considered as “test cases”.

MGN is contesting the claims over allegations its journalists were linked to voicemail interception, securing information through deception and hiring private investigators for unlawful activities.

The publisher says board members have denied knowledge of such activities and claims there is “no evidence, or no sufficient evidence, of voicemail interception” in any of the four claims chosen as “representative” cases.

Harry is due to enter the witness box this week as the trial focuses on his individual case.

Prince’s other legal battles

Sunday 4 June 2023 18:30 , Jane Dalton

Prince Harry’s other civil litigation claims include challenges to the government over his security, libel accusations against The Mail on Sunday and allegations of unlawful information gathering against Associated Newspapers Limited:

What is happening with Harry’s six High Court claims?

‘Simply no evidence’ for many claims, trial told

Sunday 4 June 2023 17:30 , Jane Dalton

A lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers argued as the case opened last month that a “very substantial proportion” of the articles involved in the case were at “a breathtaking level of triviality”, saying there was “simply no evidence” for many of the claims of phone hacking:

‘Simply no evidence’ for many Mirror phone hacking claims, Prince Harry trial told

Private investigator gathered information on prince at nightclub

Sunday 4 June 2023 16:35 , Jane Dalton

On the first day of the trial last month, a lawyers for MGN, Andrew Green KC, said it was admitted 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 one night in February 2004.

“Otherwise, the specified allegations are denied, or in a few cases not admitted,” he added.

Mr Green said there was a reference to a payment record for £75 in February 2004.

He continued: “It is admitted that this represented an instruction to engage in unlawful information gathering, and MGN unreservedly apologises and accepts that the Duke of Sussex is entitled to appropriate compensation for it.

“MGN does not know what information this related to, although it clearly had some connection with his conduct at the nightclub.”

The barrister said that there was a People article published in February 2004 “giving the recollection of a woman Harry spent time with” at the club.

Mr Green added: “The Duke of Sussex notably does not claim in relation to this article, so it is not alleged that this instruction led to the publication of his private information.

“The fee paid, £75, suggests little work was involved.”

Mirror Group admitted one instance of unlawful activity

Sunday 4 June 2023 15:52 , Jane Dalton

When the duke’s case began last month, lawyers for the publisher of the Daily Mirror newspaper apologised “unreservedly” to him for one instance of unlawful information gathering and said the company accepted he was entitled to “appropriate compensation”:

Mirror publisher admits unlawfully gathering information on Prince Harry

Harry set to give evidence as he sues Mirror Group

Sunday 4 June 2023 15:48 , Jane Dalton

Welcome to our live coverage of Prince Harry’s case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

The Duke of Sussex is due to arrive at the High Court in London tomorrow and is due to enter the witness box on Tuesday, when he will face cross-examination from MGN’s lawyers.

Harry is suing the company for damages, claiming journalists carried out or authorised methods of gaining information, including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception and use of private investigators.

His claim is being heard alongside three other “representative” claims during a trial that is due to last six to seven weeks.

MGN contests the claims and has either denied or not admitted each of them. The publisher also argues some of the claimants have brought their legal action too late.