Phone hacking caused 'mistrust' between Prince William and Prince Harry early on, lawyers claim
By Natalie Oliveri|
Tensions between Prince William and Prince Harry started to appear as far back as 2003 caused by unlawful information gathering, lawyers claim.
Prince Harry's barrister ?David Sherborne told London's High Court that "mistrust" between the brothers could be linked back to an article about an alleged disagreement between them.
The story from The People, published in December that year, focused on a dispute between William and Harry over whether to meet former royal butler Paul Burrell, who they had publicly accused of betraying their mother Diana, the late Princess of Wales.
READ MORE: Prince Harry claims Piers Morgan's Mirror hacked Princess Diana
Published by the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN)?, the story claimed the brothers had clashed midway through Harry's year overseas, while a source had told the tabloid newspaper the men were at "loggerheads".
Sherborne told the court: "Even at this very early formative stage the seeds of discord between these two brothers are starting to be sown.
"Brothers can sometimes disagree but once it is made public in this way and their inside feelings revealed in the way that they are, trust begins to be eroded.
READ MORE: Prince Harry accused of 'wasting time' for skipping day one of trial?
"One can see how the mistrust can set in from an early age, exactly because of this type of activity."
Sherborne told the court that Rachel Bletchley, the journalist behind the story, could be linked to numerous payments to private investigators.
MGN defended the article, arguing it came from a "confidential source" who specialised in royal matters.
Prince Harry is suing the group ?over alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking.
MGN denies phone hacking in this case.
Around 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 had information gathered using unlawful methods, Prince Harry claims, with 33 of those selected to be considered at the trial.
READ MORE: Meghan could make up to $600,000 per post on Instagram
The Duke of Sussex was not in court for the first day of the trial and will be there on Tuesday to give evidence.
His absence on Monday raised eyebrows, though, with MGN's lawyers accusing the royal of "wasting time".
The judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, said he was a "little surprised" to hear Prince Harry would not be attending court on Monday.
He had given an earlier direction that witnesses should be available on the first day of their individual case in case there was time to give evidence.
?Andrew Green KC, representing MGN, accused the prince's side of "wasting time", saying it was "absolutely extraordinary we were told just last week that he is not available for day one of his own trial".
Green added that he was "deeply troubled" by Harry's absence, adding he'd need a day and a half to cross-examine the prince.
Sherborne, who is also representing three other people, said the duke had flown in from Los Angeles after his daughter Lilibet's second birthday, on Sunday.
"He is in a different category from the three other claimants due to his travel and security arrangements," Sherborne said.
For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here
