Prince Harry set for London court appearance

By Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Harry is expected to appear at London’s High Court on Monday as he prepares to give evidence in his lawsuit against the publisher of British tabloid the Daily Mirror.

Harry, King Charles’ younger son, will this week become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for 130 years, which is likely to take place on Monday or Tuesday.

He is one of more than 100 other high-profile figures suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, for alleged phone-hacking and other unlawful behaviour between 1991 and 2011.

The trial began last month, as lawyers representing Harry and three other test claimants attempted to prove that unlawful information gathering was carried out with the knowledge and approval of senior editors and executives.

MGN, now owned by Reach, apologised at the start of the trial for one admitted occasion that the Sunday People had unlawfully sought information about Harry, accepting he was entitled to compensation.

But it has rejected his other allegations, saying he had no evidence for his claims. Buckingham Palace is likely to feature prominently in Harry’s cross-examination, with MGN arguing that some information had come from royal aides.

This week’s appearance will be the second time this year Harry has attended the High Court, after joining singer Elton John and others for hearings in March over their lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mail tabloids.

Harry, the fifth-in-line to the throne, has barely been out of the headlines in the last six months.

He is in engaged in several legal battles with the British press, including a similar phone-hacking case against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm.

The prince has also accused his family and their aides in his memoir and Netflix (NASDAQ:) documentary series of colluding with tabloids. The palace has not commented on those accusations.