Starting this Tuesday, January 21, he (40 years old) was scheduled to face News Group Newspapers (NGN), the British subsidiary of the empire of the American magnate (93 years old), in a trial lasting between 8 and 10 weeks. whom he accuses of resorting to illegal practices in the past to obtain exclusive information about him. The youngest son of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana is, along with Labor MP Tom Watson, the only remaining plaintiff in the case, after some 1,300 people, including over the past few years, to limit the astronomical legal bill of the process. Harry’s legal team has even noted in previous legal filings that his brother, the heir to the throne, closed his own case against NGN for “a large amount of money.” Everything was scheduled for the initial arguments of both parties to take place this Tuesday at the High Court in London, but finally the process has been postponed, with no set date, amid the chaos due to last-minute discussions to reach an out-of-court agreement. last minute.
After opening the session in the morning, the judge agreed to the request of Henry of England and Watson’s lawyer, David Sherborne, to postpone it first for an hour and then until two in the afternoon. “I have been asked to ask your honor if there can be a brief adjournment of one hour. I am sure that your honor can understand why it might be necessary,” the lawyer initially said, without providing further details. The magistrate, Timothy Fancourt, responded that “it does not cause any inconvenience, rather it wastes some time if this trial is going to take place.” After that first hour of delay, Sherborne asked for more time to continue discussions. Fancourt agreed to the request, but said that it should be the “last postponement” and the procedure would begin in the afternoon if an agreement was not reached. Sherborne subsequently asked again for more time to negotiate, something he did with the support of NGN lawyer Anthony Hudson, who cited “time difference difficulties” in a possible reference to Prince Harry, who lives in California. The judge declined to give more time and told attorneys for both sides that they could continue discussing a possible settlement while the trial began. Although the litigation could not begin today due to these delays and has been postponed.
Numerous media outlets were waiting this Tuesday morning at the doors of the commercial division of the High Court in London in case Prince Henry finally showed up – Tom Watson did show up – but that was not the case. If the out-of-court agreement that both parties seem to have been negotiating this morning is not reached and the trial goes ahead, it is expected that the Duke of Sussex, who has lived in California with his family for more than four years since he abandoned his role in The British royal family will testify in court next February. The prince’s visits to his native country occur in exceptional cases, not only because of the distance from his family but also because neither he nor his family will receive protection paid for with public funds when they are in British territory.
This new trial occurs after, in preliminary hearings, Judge Timothy Fancourt agreed to study as examples of possible infringements some thirty articles presented by the litigants published by The Sun and the already closed News of the Worldboth part of the Murdoch group, between 1996 and 2011. In the previous hearings, the magistrate already ruled that ―not so Watson’s―, but that his accusations of other illegalities, sometimes carried out through of private detectives, and that the board had covered up.
NGN will once again argue in both the case of Watson and that of Henry of England that some of the charges have expired, as it has announced in a statement, and will refute article by article that there are indications or evidence that the alleged crimes were committed. He also claims that he will bring witnesses who will refute that there was a cover-up at the corporate level. Among the managers accused of allegedly destroying incriminating information are, former director of The Sun y The News of the World and still an executive in the company, and Will Lewis, currently CEO of The Washington Post. In addition to Henry of England, witnesses who will be called by his team include former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, actors Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller, singer Lily Allen and Heather Mills, Paul McCartney’s ex-wife.
In any case, Prince Harry and Watson risk that, even if they win the trial, the amount that the judge awards them in damages will be less than that offered by the company to try to reach an out-of-court settlement, which It would mean that they would be responsible for covering the million-dollar legal costs of both parties. Even so, the Duke of Sussex explained in December that he wanted to move forward despite the high cost because he is not looking for money but for the truth, and because of his desire to do so. “One of the main reasons for seeing this through to the end is responsibility, because I am the last person who can achieve it,” he said.
after 168 years of history, after the medium admitted illegal practices that it attributed to specific people, in a notorious process that ended with the imprisonment in 2014 of the director, Andy Coulson, and the acquittal of the then CEO, Rebekah Brooks. Previously, journalist Clive Goodman and private detective Glen Mulcaire each served sentences for phone hacking.
Before the trial that is now beginning, Enrique has already won, for which he received compensation of 140,600 pounds (about 165,000 euros) plus another higher figure agreed between the parties for listening to his mobile voicemail between 2003 and 2009.
