Prince Harry rebuked by judge for skipping first day of court

The Duke of Sussex was rebuked by a High Court judge on Monday for skipping the first day of his claim against a tabloid newspaper.

The Duke, 38, failed to appear for the opening of his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) as he spent Sunday celebrating his daughter Princess Lilibet’s second birthday with his family in California, the court was told.

Mr Justice Fancourt, the trial judge, said he was “a little surprised” that his directions had not been followed.

He said it had been anticipated that witnesses might be needed earlier than the draft timetable suggested, adding: “That’s why I directed that the first witness should be available.”

David Sherborne, for the Duke, replied: “I hear what your lordship says.”

The barrister told the court that the Duke had flown from Los Angeles to London overnight on Sunday night, “having attended his daughter’s birthday”.

The Duke will finally appear in the witness stand on Tuesday, marking the first time a senior member of the Royal family has given evidence in 132 years.

It will be Prince Harry’s first visit to the UK since the Coronation on May 6.

On that occasion, he opted not to have lunch with the Royal family or to appear in the official portraits as he wanted to kiss his son, Prince Archie, goodnight on his fourth birthday, which happened to fall on the same day.

Mr Sherborne told the court that it had “always been anticipated that the first day” of the hearing would be taken up by opening speeches by the barristers.

He argued that the Duke was in “a different category from the three other claimants due to his travel and security arrangements”.

‘Wasting court time’

Andrew Green KC, for MGN, said he would need at least a day and a half to cross-examine the Duke and was “deeply troubled” that he would not attend before Tuesday, accusing him of wasting court time.

“It is absolutely extraordinary that we were told only yesterday that he was not available for day one of his trial,” he told the judge.

“We are deeply troubled by that. We have done everything we can to not waste court time. Now we are going to have some wasted time this afternoon.”

After several minutes discussing the Duke’s absence, the judge said he did not want to spend any more time on the matter “as it appears nothing can be done”.

Later, Mr Green returned to the theme, pointing out that Mr Sherborne had exceeded the promised three hours for his opening, prompting another testy exchange with the judge about timekeeping.

Mr Sherborne said: “We want to take the whole day with openings.”

Mr Justice Fancourt replied: “You said you’d take three hours.”

Anthony Harwood, a Mirror journalist, had been slotted into the schedule in the Duke’s absence.

The judge said that now Mr Harwood had been alerted, he should take the stand.

“We really can’t keep having timetable chaos on a day-by-day basis,” added the judge. “We really must get on.”

The Duke is due to appear when the hearing continues on Tuesday morning.