2023-06-05 01:57:45
For the first time in more than a century, a “royal” at the helm of a British court: Prince Harry is expected this week in London in a trial against a tabloid he accuses, alongside other personalities , of having collected information unlawfully.
Exiled to California with his wife Meghan, the youngest son of King Charles III, in trouble with the rest of the British royal family, has initiated a series of legal proceedings against British newspapers.
Blaming the scandalous press for the death of his mother Diana, who lost her life in a car accident, pursued by paparazzi in 1997, Harry had also cited the behavior of the media vis-à-vis his wife among the factors that led him to leave the United Kingdom and withdraw from the British monarchy.
In the ongoing trial, which opened in the High Court in London last month, Harry and the other plaintiffs accuse the Daily Mirror publisher of using unlawful means to gather information, including by hacking into voicemails, between 1995 and 2001.
The Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – which in addition to the Daily Mirror publishes its Sunday and people editions – admitted at the start of the trial in its written conclusions “some evidence” of illegal information gathering.
MGN issued an “unreserved” apology and promised that this situation would “never” happen again. The publisher’s lawyer, Andrew Green, on the other hand, rejected the accusations of interception of voice messages and brushed aside certain accusations, highlighting the age of the facts, which date back to a time when the group had other leaders. .
Prince Harry’s last appearance in the UK dates back to his whirlwind trip for his father’s coronation on May 6. A visit came after weeks of speculation in the wake of the storm of the publication of his memoirs in January, in which he recounts, among other things, the breakdown of his relationship with his father and his brother William, as well as his use of drugs in his turbulent youth.
“Memories May Vary”
It is the first appearance of a member of the royal family in court since 2002, when Princess Anne, Harry’s aunt, was fined after her bull terrier bitten two children in Windsor Park. .
But having pleaded guilty, she had not had to testify. The last royal appearance at the helm was in 1890 and the future Edward VII for a libel trial.
Harry is due at the High Court on Monday, his testimony due on Tuesday.
At the end of March, he had created a surprise by appearing at the High Court – but in the public – on the occasion of a preliminary hearing against ANL, the publisher of the Daily Mail, accused of the same methods, by a series of personalities , including singer Elton John.
Two weeks ago, Prince Harry lost the lawsuit he had filed to receive police protection at his own expense when he travels to the United Kingdom.
In a sign of the intensity of the tension between Harry and the press, Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson claimed last month that the couple had been “chased” in New York by “very aggressive paparazzi”. An episode that revived the memory of the death of Lady Di.
Faced with the contrast between the account given by the couple’s spokesman – who highlighted the “catastrophic” outcome which was avoided – and that of the New York police, who played down the event, several British newspapers had quoted a famous phrase from Queen Elizabeth II: “memories may vary”.
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