Prince Harry’s trial against News Group Newspapers will happen in early 2025. The trial will not be a brief affair – there will likely be weeks of testimony and legal-bickering, and I’m a little bit worried that the trial will still be happening when Harry and Meghan arrive in Vancouver and Whistler for the Invictus Games on February 8. Obviously, Harry doesn’t have to physically be in court for the entire thing, but he will have to testify, and he will likely have to/want to testify in person rather than via Zoom or whatever. Well, NGN’s lawyers are trying to intimidate Harry, I think, and they’re saying that Harry will be under a microscopic cross-examination for days. Don’t threaten him with a good time!
The Duke of Sussex could face four days of “extensive” questioning in the High Court in his upcoming trial against the publisher of The Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering. The Duke, 40, and former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson are bringing legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), which is set to head to trial in January 2025.
The Duke was also accused of trying to turn his legal battle into a public inquiry after he said last week he would never settle the case to achieve closure for the hundreds of thousands who had settled.
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said 30 articles will be included in the trial in the Duke’s case and he would need to be questioned on each one. The barrister said Harry will be questioned about whether or not his claim should be dismissed because it was brought too late, adding: “That is going to require an extensive cross-examination of the Duke on actual and constructed knowledge.”
Mr Hudson continued: “If we said anything less than up to four days, we would be at risk of running out of time.”
David Sherborne, representing the Duke and Lord Watson, said the Duke had been questioned for only a day-and-a-half in his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers. He continued: “The idea that Mr Hudson could allow himself four days because he doesn’t want to feel rushed, that could apply to every witness.”
Mr Hudson KC also told the court the Duke’s comments in a New York Times interview last week proved he was trying to turn the case into a public inquiry. “It shows what’s really going on,” he said. “This is not about the trial of these individual claims, certainly not about the Duke’s. It’s about something very different. What it’s clearly about… it’s almost by definition a public inquiry.”
I genuinely wonder if the average British person understands what Harry is doing here and what he’s going up against, and how NGN and the British tabloids have run a high-level extortion scheme on hundreds of celebrities, royals and politicians. After all of this, after years of motions and hearings and threats and intimidation tactics, Prince Harry is still marching these f–kers to trial. I think he will be more than happy to be cross-examined for four days about all of this horses-t, if it comes to that.
Some NGN/Sun covers from the years where this case has been slow-walked to trial.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, The Sun.
