Tetchy responses from Duke of Sussex suggest his relationship with the press has caused a deep, raw wound
A minute before 11.30am on Wednesday, the rescheduled start time for the latest episode of his battle against sections of the British press, Prince Harry slipped into the rear of court 76 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, flanked by his security detail. Then he took a seat at the back, armed with a bottle of water and a grievance built over decades.
He has been here before, of course. This is the third major newspaper publisher that the Duke of Sussex has pursued at this court over alleged illegal information gathering, but the prince seemed especially eager to have his say against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
A brief false alarm over the arrival in court of Mr Justice Nicklin saw the assembled lawyers, journalists and members of the public briefly bob to their feet and back down again, amid giggles. Harry alone stayed on his feet, standing silently above the rows of lawyers for several minutes, until the judge finally made his entrance.
It is a year almost to the day since News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of the Sun, gave the prince “a full and unequivocal apology” and £10m to settle Harry’s case against them for phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information. A year earlier, he had won substantial damages against Mirror Group Newspapers over phone hacking at the Daily Mirror.
