Prince Harry Called Out By Judge For ‘Wasting Court Time’ After Being Absent From First Day Of His Own Trial

Prince Harry was criticized after not appearing for a scheduled trial date on Monday in London’s High Court.

He was attending his daughter Princess Lilibet’s second birthday in California on Sunday and had just flown in from when he was supposed to testify at court. 

The prince’s lawyer, David Sherborne, informed the court that his client would not be available that day and explained that the prince was in a “different category” because of his travel and security arrangements and that court openings were not anticipated to take a whole day. 

The judge, Timothy Fancourt, was “surprised” at the no-show and replied to Sherborne, “It was anticipated that they might – which is why I directed that the first witness should be available.” 

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The lead lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers, Andrew Green, remarked that the prince’s side was “wasting time” and that one day would not be enough to cross-examine the prince as he had 33 articles to question him with. Judge Fancourt, however, assured Green that enough time would be given for the cross-examination. 

Prince Harry is accusing Mirror Group of using illegal means to obtain private information about him, such as hiring private investigators, hacking his phones and eavesdropping on his conversations, eventually writing stories about him that were published between 1996 to 2011. 

The Duke of Sussex’s appearance at court will be the first time in over 130 years that a member of the British royal family is cross-examined at the High Court. The last time was in 1891 with Prince Albert Edward, the eldest son of Queen Victoria.