Prince Harry defied a British judge’s orders Monday and failed to appear in court in his lawsuit against the UK’s Daily Mirror newspaper over allegations that the publication hacked his phone, CNN reports.
The Duke of Sussex had flown in from Los Angeles overnight because he was celebrating his daughter Lilibet’s birthday, according to his lawyer, David Sherborne, in explaining the reason for his client’s absence.
“His travel arrangements are such and his security arrangements are such that it is a little bit tricky,” Sherborne told Judge Timothy Fancourt, according to the New York Post.
Harry is scheduled to testify on Tuesday. Fancourt had directed witnesses to be in the courtroom one day before they were scheduled to give testimony if opening statements ran short.
“I’m a little surprised,” Fancourt responded to the news of the prince’s absence, according to the Post.
The testimony is for a lawsuit Harry initiated against tabloid newspapers accusing them of invasion of privacy for allegedly hacking his phone between 1991 and 2011.
Observers expect the prince to testify about the effect of the tabloid media and paparazzi on his life, Reuters reports. He has cited harassment by British journalists as a reason for why he and wife Meghan Markle moved to the United States. And the paparazzi have long been blamed for causing the crash that killed his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997 in Paris.
Harry will be the first British royal family member in more than 100 years to testify in court, according to The Associated Press.
The Daily Mirror newspaper and related publications have admitted previously they were involved in hacking phones and have paid more than $120 million to settle more than 600 claims. However, lawyers for the news outlets say there is no evidence that the prince’s phone was ever hacked or that he was targeted.
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[Feature Photo: FILE – Britain’s Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. The Duke of Sussex is scheduled to testify in the High Court after his lawyer presents opening statements Monday, June 5, 2023, in his case alleging phone hacking. It’s the first of Harry’s several legal cases against the media to go to trial and one of three alleging tabloid publishers unlawfully snooped on him. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)]
