Prince Harry in court showdown with ‘beast’ who ‘eviscerates’ witnesses

As Prince Harry continues to give testimony from the witness box at the High Court he will be faced across the courtroom by a man described as a “beast”.

Andrew Green KC was called to the bar when the Duke of Sussex was four-years-old, took silk 13 years ago and has built a formidable reputation as an inquisitor who “eviscerates” witnesses.

The Duke has already riled him – and appears to have annoyed the trial judge – by failing to show up on Monday, despite witnesses being told they should be in court on the day before they are due to give evidence in case the hearing goes quicker than expected.

So the Duke can expect no favours from a man described as “an opponent to be feared” by the Legal 500 law guide.

Mr Green is no stranger to high-profile court cases involving celebrities, though none have been so internationally recognisable as the Duke.

The singers Steve Winwood and Katherine Jenkins have both found themselves on the opposite side of courtrooms from Mr Green, who is frequently called upon in disputes between artists and recording companies or publishers. He also represented Ray Dorset, the lead singer of the band Mungo Jerry, in a case against his former record company concerning royalties for the group’s 1970 hit In the Summertime.

The boxer Lennox Lewis had Mr Green in his corner when he fought the promoter Panos Eliades in court, and the barrister also acted for Alan Pardew, the then manager of Premier League football team Newcastle United, in disciplinary proceedings brought against him by the Football Association in 2013.

While Mr Green’s bread and butter involves commercial law, banking, fraud and insurance cases, he has proved versatile and has a particular interest in fine art disputes.

He has acted against auction houses where there have been disputes over ownership of artworks, including pieces taken from families by the Nazis, and also in cases involving disagreements over attribution.

His courtroom triumphs earned him a nomination as barrister of the year in The Lawyer Awards 2015, and in 2022 he was nominated as financial services and insurance silk of the year at the Legal 500 Awards.

It was the Legal 500 that described him this year as “a beast in court”, and two years earlier the same publication said he was: “A spectacular cross-examination master; his charming manner brings the Judge onside and makes his evisceration of witnesses all the more devastating.”

On Monday, he said he was “deeply troubled” that Prince Harry had not turned up on the day his individual case against Mirror Group Newspapers began, saying it risked wasting the court’s time if he was not available.

Mr Justice Fancourt, the trial judge hearing the case, said he was “a little surprised” to discover the Duke was not in court.