The Duke of Sussex is continuing his lawsuit against the publisher of the Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering, the high court has heard.
Prince Harry “is one of two claimants whose claims are still live” against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), his barrister David Sherborne said, with the other being the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson. The court was told 39 cases had been settled since a previous hearing in July.
The two cases are expected to go to trial in January. Harry alleges he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for NGN, which also published the now defunct News of the World. NGN has denied unlawful activity took place at the Sun.
“The Duke of Sussex is one of two claimants whose claims are still live in this matter,” Sherborne told Mr Justice Fancourt. “The reduction of the live claims to just two is a pretty recent development.”
Lord Watson attended the hearing but Harry was not present.
Lawyers for the duke sought access to “highly relevant emails” sent between five royal household staff and five senior NGN employees. They included Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News UK from September 2015, Robert Thomson, the chief executive of News Corp from 2013, and Mike Darcey, the chief executive of News UK until September 2015, as well as Sir Christopher Geidt, the former private secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, his successor Sir Edward Young, and Sally Osman, a former head of royal communications.
The judge ruled that a limited number of the emails requested by the duke could be disclosed, saying that while there was a “degree of speculation whether any of the documents sought are going to assist the claimant’s case”, there was “sufficient justification” for some of the emails to be provided, and that there was a credible case for saying a full picture was necessary in the interest of justice.
Harry has previously claimed he could not bring his case earlier because there was a “secret agreement” to delay “resolution and recompense” between NGN and the palace until the conclusion of civil cases against the publisher, a claim NGN has previously dismissed as “Alice in Wonderland stuff”.
Sherborne said previous emails submitted to the court by NGN were “incomplete”, had been “cherrypicked” by NGN and looked as if they had been selected by Brooks herself. Arguing for the release of further emails from those key individuals, he said it was “not fanciful” they contained discussions from which “inferences can be drawn” that could go to the issue of “liability”.
He told the judge: “Emails between NGN and the palace would be highly relevant in terms of providing the full picture not only as to the actual knowledge of the claimant but also as to the position in relation to constructive knowledge, based on what the palace was being told by NGN.”
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said it was “clearly a speculative fishing exercise” and any emails had to be viewed in the context of 2005, when allegations were made against News of the World culminating in its royal editor and a private investigator being convicted of phone hacking.
Of the request for further emails, Hudson told the judge: “The documents sought are not relevant to the pleaded issues in the Duke of Sussex’s case, are not necessary to ensure a fair trial will take place and are not likely to make a real difference to the prospect of settlement of the claim; and, moreover, the proposed searches would be disproportionate and would not save costs.”
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The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.
Many others have settled their claims in recent years including Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller, Paul Gascoigne, Catherine Tate and Melanie Chisholm.
At a hearing in April, the high court heard Grant had settled his case against NGN because of the risk of a £10m legal bill if his case went to trial. Grant said he was offered “an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court” that he had not wanted to accept.
A spokesperson for NGN said in a statement: “In 2011 an apology was published by NGN to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World. The company publicly committed to paying financial compensation and since then has paid settlements to those with proper claims.
“In some disputed cases, it has made commercial sense to come to a settlement agreement before trial to bring a resolution to the matter. As we reach the tail end of the litigation, NGN is drawing a line under the disputed matters.
“The civil proceedings have been running for more than a decade and deal with events 13-28 years ago. It is common practice, and indeed encouraged in litigation, to seek to settle claims outside court where both parties agree without the cost of a trial.”
The hearing continues.