Prince Harry accused of 'wasting time' by not appearing in court for start of phone hacking trial
By Natalie Oliveri|
T?he Duke of Sussex has been accused of "wasting time" by not showing up to court in the first day of his trial against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
The case began in London's High Court on Monday in the UK? with the 38-year-old royal expected to be there for the beginning.
While he was not tipped to start giving evidence until Tuesday, it was thought he would appear in court considering the gravitas of the case.
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The duke is claiming MGN journalists used unlawful methods to gather information about his private life, including phone hacking.
MGN denies phone hacking in this case.
Around 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 had information gathered using unlawful methods, Prince Harry claims, with 33 of those selected to be considered at the trial.
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The judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, said he was a "little surprised" to hear Prince Harry would not be attending court on Monday.
He had given an earlier direction that witnesses should be available on the first day of their individual case in case there was time to give evidence.
Andrew Green KC, representing MGN, said there was no evidence to support claims made by the duke and his legal team.
Green accused the prince's side of "wasting time", saying it was "absolutely extraordinary we were told just last week that he is not available for day one of his own trial".
Green added that he was "deeply troubled" by Harry's absence, adding he'd need a day and a half to cross-examine the prince.
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Prince Harry's barrister David Sherborne, who is also representing three other people, said the duke had flown in from Los Angeles after his daughter Lilibet's second birthday, on Sunday.
"He is in a different category from the three other claimants due to his travel and security arrangements," Sherborne said.
Nearly half of the public section of the court emptied after confirmation he would not be appearing on Monday, the BBC reports.
Prince Harry is expected to begin giving evidence on Tuesday in London.
By doing so, he'll become the first senior member of the British royal family to appear in the witness stand in 132 years.
The last royal to do so was Queen Victoria's eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, who testified twice in court.?
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The man who would go on to become King Edward VII testified in the divorce proceedings of a woman he was accused of having an affair with (he denied it) and in a slander case involving a man who cheated at cards. Edward VII was the great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, Harry's grandmother?.
During the first day of the trial, Prince Harry's barrister argued unlawful information-gathering "acted like a web" around the royal claiming that no aspect of his youth was safe from press intrusion.
Sherborne said Prince Harry did not have a "vendetta against the press" but he wanted to hold them to account.
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