When Will Prince Harry Take the Stand as His High-Stakes Trial Against Rupert Murdoch Tabloids Begins?

Mar. 15, 2025

Prince Harry arrives at an earlier court hearing in London in June 2023.Photo:Carl Court/Getty

Carl Court/Getty

Harry, 40, was not there to witness the beginning of the proceedings against the tabloid afterit emerged on Jan. 20 that he would miss it. He is scheduled to give evidence in the case — which is taking place at the grand Rolls Building, in the heart of the city’s law courts district — over four days in February. Mr. Justice Fancourt is the judge in the case.

The trial began with an immediate delay on Tuesday, with David Sherborne — the lawyer acting for Harry and his co-claimant, former Labour politician Tom Watson — standing first and asking the judge to allow them some more time amid talk of a settlement. Lord Watson was also seen at the courtroom building after arriving well after the proceedings started.

Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in June 2023.ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

Both legal teams were granted an hour to go away, and when they returned shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time, Mr. Sherbourne asked for another break to take them to lunch, around an hour and a half later.

The barrister representing NGN, Anthony Hudson, agreed and assured the judge that it would not hinder the upcoming trial schedule. He agreed to the adjournment as long as it would be “beneficial” to the outcome.

NGN has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement released Tuesday, its legal team also made reference to the fact that Harry had accusedNGN of phone hacking and other privacy violationsbetween 1996 and 2011, a period during whichThe Sunand the now-defunctNews of the Worldallegedly targeted him.

Prince Harry at an earlier court hearing against Mirror Group Newspapers in London in June 2023.Leon Neal/Getty Images

Leon Neal/Getty Images

The Duke of Sussex signaled the beginning of this civil case in 2019, when his wifeMeghan Marklealso kicked off her fight against another newspaper, theMail on Sunday.Shewon that casein February 2021. It is one of several cases he has involved in the British legal system. Harry is also appealing the decision that led to the removal of the official security for him and his family — with that coming in the spring. Then, early next year, sees his case involving the publishers of theDaily Mail.

“Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it,” he said, adding that the pursuit of justice against the press is something he feels is necessary, despite the personal toll it has taken.

Prince Harry at the Royal Courts of Justice in March 2023.Getty Images

Getty Images

“But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press,” said the prince, whoformally stepped back from royal duties in 2020and moved with his wife the Duchess of Sussex and theirchildren, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, to California. “I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It’d be nice if we did it as a family. I believe, again, from a service standpoint and when you’re in a public role that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”

Celebrities, including actorHugh Grantand actressSienna Miller, also brought cases against the publisher, but they have settled their claims. Grantexplainedin April 2024 that he felt he had no choice as he might be hit with a huge costs bill, running into more than $10 million, even if he was successful.

In alengthy thread on X(formerly known as Twitter), he wrote, “News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing - phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and the destruction of evidence.”

“As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court,” he added.

“I don’t want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court,” he continued. “But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.”

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A spokesperson for NGN told PEOPLE in a statement that it admitted no liability in the settlement and said that settling the case was “in both parties' financial interests not to progress to a costly trial.”

In December, during a chat withThe New York Times’ columnist and Dealbook founder Andrew Ross Sorkin, Harry said other claimants “settled because they’ve had to settle.”

“One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I’m the last person that can actually achieve that,” he added, per U.K. newspaperThe Observer.

source: people.com