The King, who tends to take a break from public duties for most of January, will almost certainly be in Scotland on the dates in question. But more pertinently, royal sources acknowledge that he has no wish to be linked to any court proceedings, meaning that on this occasion, he would prefer to give his younger son a wide berth.
The claimant’s barrister, David Sherborne, has told all seven claimants to attend the opening of the trial in a “show of strength”.
If he gets his wish, Sir Elton, his husband David Furnish, Liz Hurley, Baroness Lawrence, Sadie Frost and Sir Simon Hughes will take their seats in Court 73.
The nine-week trial, which is projected to cost more than £38m, will hear them accuse Associated Newspapers Limited of hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blag” private records and access private phone conversations.
The publisher has described the allegations as “lurid” and “simply preposterous”.
Prince hoping for repeat of Mirror ‘victory’
The Duke is expected to draw on his experience of giving evidence during his High Court claim against Mirror Group Newspapers in 2023, when he became the first senior member of the Royal family to testify in court in 130 years.
He will also be hoping to replicate the outcome after claiming a victory in almost half of his claims against the publisher, with the judge finding evidence of “widespread and habitual” use of phone hacking at the Mirror newspapers.
Prince Harry was awarded £140,600 in damages, and described it as a “great day for truth” and accountability.
The Duke was not in the UK when his claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun, was settled on the eve of a separate planned trial in January last year.
NGN agreed to pay “substantial damages” and offered a “full and unequivocal apology” to Prince Harry for the intrusion into his private life “including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun” between 1996 and 2011.
Mr Sherborne spoke of a “monumental victory” and “vindication” but the Duke, who had not flown over for the opening of the trial, was unable to stand alongside him on the steps of the court, much to his frustration.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
