Prince Harry's trial against Sun publisher delayed

Prince Harry's trial against Sun publisher  delayed.
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A close-up of Prince Harry,  unsmiling and looking  into the  camera.
Prince Harry, pictured here in August 2024, did not attend Tuesday's  hearing.
The opening day of Prince Harry's damages battle against the owners of  the Sun newspaper has been  postponed as the two sides  engage in potential settlement talks after years of legal  wrangling.
The Duke's lawyers were  set to open an eight-week trial  on Tuesday over his  claims that journalists at  the News Group  newspapers used  illegal techniques to  intrude on his private life - and  that executives then covered  up the affair.
Moments before they were  due to begin presenting their case, they asked for an  adjournment.
However, after hours of secret  talks and no sign of a final agreement that could change the nature of the trial, the judge  ordered both parties to begin -  prompting both to say they  have asked the  court to  set aside the order. The practical  consequence of their objection is that the  matter has been  postponed until at least  10pm on Wednesday -  meaning both sides have more time to  negotiate. It is unclear what  exactly was discussed during the  last-minute negotiations.
Prince Harry has repeatedly said he wants a trial  to take "accountability" for other alleged victims of  the illegal collection of private information by NGN  journalists.
NGN has denied any wrongdoing at  the Sun or that  senior executives  covered up the  matter.
Rupert Murdoch's empire has long  acknowledged that journalists at the News of the World,  which closed in 2011,  used illegal techniques, but has always denied that  the practices were widespread.
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This morning, lawyers for Prince Harry and former Labour MP Lord Tom Watson, the other remaining  plaintiff, asked Mr Justice Fancourt to  adjourn the case twice  – meaning the court did not sit until  2am. Prince Harry's  lawyer, David  Sherborne, arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, wearing a white shirt and black coat and carrying a folder of  EPA documents.
Prince Harry's  lawyer, David  Sherborne, arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London
David Sherborne, Prince Harry's  lawyer, said there was a "good prospect" of  a settlement that would  buy court  time.
"We are very close, there is an issue with  the timing and  the receipt of instructions," he  said.
"That is not the only factor."
Anthony Hudson KC,  speaking for  the news group, added  that the parties needed more time because of "time differences" and said both  sides were involved in  the "dynamics of the settlement."
Judge Fancourt  — who has repeatedly  criticized both sides for  lengthy delays and  bickering over how  to proceed with the case — refused to grant more time, saying the case should  proceed even  though there were still  behind-the-scenes discussions that could change the nature of the  judgment. "I'm not  convinced that if there  was a  genuine desire to  resolve this  issue, it  couldn't be done  today," the  judge said. Lawyers for the group's newspapers later asked the court to sit  behind closed doors - without the media  present - to  learn more about what was going  on. The judge refused, saying he  would not  go "into secrecy" - and Prince Harry's team and NGN's lawyers  later said they would ask senior judges to overturn the order to  begin with.

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