When Will Prince Harry Take the Stand as His High-Stakes Trial Against Rupert Murdoch Tabloids Begins?

• Prince Harry’s trial against Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid The Sun began in London on Tuesday, Jan. 21
• The high-stakes trial began with an immediate delay, with the Duke of Sussex’s lawyer, David Sherbourne, asking the judge to allow them some more time amid talk of a settlement
• Harry was not present in court on Tuesday but is scheduled to testify in February

Prince Harry is embarking on the next stage of his mission to take on what he claims are historical illegal activities by some newspapers in the U.K.

The trial in the Duke of Sussex’s legal battle against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) — the publisher of The Sun — over allegations of unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators working for NGN began in the High Court in London on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Harry, 40, was not there to witness the beginning of the proceedings against the tabloid after it emerged on Jan. 20 that he would miss it. He is scheduled to give evidence in the case — which is taking place at the grand Rolls Building, in the heart of the city’s law courts district — over four days in February. Mr. Justice Fancourt is the judge in the case.

The trial began with an immediate delay on Tuesday, with David Sherbourne — the lawyer acting for Harry and his co-claimant, former Labour politician Tom Watson — standing first and asking the judge to allow them some more time amid talk of a settlement. Lord Watson was also seen at the courtroom building after arriving well after the proceedings started.

Both legal teams were granted an hour to go away, and when they returned shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time, Mr. Sherbourne asked for another break to take them to lunch, around an hour and a half later.

The barrister representing NGN, Anthony Hudson, agreed and assured the judge that it would not hinder the upcoming trial schedule. He agreed to the adjournment as long as it would be “beneficial” to the outcome. 

NGN has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement released Tuesday, its legal team also made reference to the fact that Harry had accused NGN of phone hacking and other privacy violations between 1996 and 2011, a period during which The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World allegedly targeted him.

“The Duke alleges unlawful information gathering from 1996-2011. His allegations of mobile phone hacking have been struck out by the court so will not be part of the trial. His claim focuses now on allegations of unlawful information gathering by enquiry agents and alleged private investigators instructed by NGN journalists mainly in the early 2000s. His claim will be fully defended, including on the grounds that it is brought out of time.”

The Duke of Sussex signaled the beginning of this civil case in 2019, when his wife Meghan Markle also kicked off her fight against another newspaper, the Mail on Sunday. She won that case in February 2021. It is one of several cases he has involved in the British legal system. Harry is also appealing the decision that led to the removal of the official security for him and his family — with that coming in the spring. Then, early next year, sees his case involving the publishers of the Daily Mail.

In an interview for ITV’s Tabloids on Trial, Prince Harry acknowledged the impact the lawsuits have had on his relationship with his family.

“Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it,” he said, adding that the pursuit of justice against the press is something he feels is necessary, despite the personal toll it has taken.

“But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press,” said the prince, who formally stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved with his wife the Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, to California. “I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It’d be nice if we did it as a family. I believe, again, from a service standpoint and when you’re in a public role that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”

Celebrities, including actor Hugh Grant and actress Sienna Miller, also brought cases against the publisher, but they have settled their claims. Grant explained in April 2024 that he felt he had no choice as he might be hit with a huge costs bill, running into more than $10 million, even if he was successful.

In a lengthy thread on X (formerly known as Twitter), he wrote, “News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing – phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and the destruction of evidence.”

“As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court,” he added.

“I don’t want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court,” he continued. “But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.”

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A spokesperson for NGN told PEOPLE in a statement that it admitted no liability in the settlement and said that settling the case was “in both parties’ financial interests not to progress to a costly trial.”

In December, during a chat with The New York Times’ columnist and Dealbook founder Andrew Ross Sorkin, Harry said other claimants “settled because they’ve had to settle.”

“One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I’m the last person that can actually achieve that,” he added, per U.K. newspaper The Observer.