6 Riveting Revelations From Prince Harry's Court Case
The Duke of Sussex failed to attend court on Monday morning.
It's no secret that the Royal Family is notorious regarding privacy. While they usually remain quiet and refuse to respond to media reports, the family was pushed to the limit after Mirror Group Newspapers reportedly hacked the phones of members of the family for over a decade and printed numerous stories using the contents of the private phone calls. Prince Harry has been incredibly determined to have his day in court to testify, which was scheduled for this week. However, according to a report, Harry was a no-show, and the judge is furious.
Harry was scheduled to give his testimony on Monday. However, he was a no-show, and the High Court Judge in London presiding over the case against the publisher of The Daily Mirror was less than happy about it.
"I am a little surprised that [despite] the direction I gave . . . that the first witness [Harry] is not going to be available," Justice Fancourt, the trial judge, said. He added that Harry was supposed to start giving testimony after lunch, which is "why I directed that the first witness be available."
The court was given a reason why Harry wasn't there: He supposedly flew from Los Angles on Sunday evening, after spending the day celebrating the birthday of his daughter, Princess Lilibet, in Montecito.
Andrew Green KC, representing Mirror Group Newspapers, said he was "deeply troubled" at Prince Harry's no-show. "It is unsatisfactory that we were told last week that he was not available for the first day of his trial," he added. "It is absolutely extraordinary."
However, according to Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, it had "always been anticipated that speeches by the attorneys would take up the first day" of the hearing. He added that his client "flew yesterday evening from Los Angeles having attended his daughter's birthday" and that Harry was in a "different category" than other witnesses, and his travel and security happened to be "trickier."
Green added he didn't want to spend any more time discussing Harry's failure to appear "as it appears nothing can be done," but did vent frustration. "We have done everything we can to be responsible and not waste court time. Now we are going to have some wasted time this afternoon."
