Prince Harry, 38, attended court on Tuesday and Wednesday, facing a total of almost eight hours of questioning on the stand, but he wasn’t present on Thursday alongside his barrister Mr. David Sherborne.
So why did the Duke not show up for Thursday’s court proceedings? Well, he has now finished giving his evidence in court so there was no official obligation for him to be there.
After he was dismissed from the stand on Wednesday, around 2:30pm, he did remain in the room to watch the start of questioning against journalist Jane Kerr, who was formerly Daily Mail’s royal correspondent.
It is not believed that Prince Harry will make another appearance in court now and that he could depart the UK soon to get back to his family in the US. His wife Meghan Markle remained at home with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, just as she did when the Duke came over for his father King Charles’ coronation in May.
What is Prince Harry’s court case about?
Prince Harry is among a number of high-profile names suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) with claims that they used illegal methods such as phone hacking to gain information for stories over a ten-year period.
On Wednesday, the royal said: “I believe that phone hacking was (done) on an industrial scale across at least three of the papers at the time … that is beyond any doubt.”
He went on to say: “For my whole life the press has misled me and covered up the wrongdoing.
“For me to be sitting here in court knowing the defence has the evidence in front of them, and Mr Green suggesting I’m speculating, I’m not entirely sure what to say.”
The proceedings touched on Prince Harry’s childhood and extensively focused on his former relationship with Chelsy Davy.
“These kinds of articles made me feel as though my relationship with Chelsy was always set to be doomed,” he said.
“Ultimately, these factors led her to make the decision that a Royal life was not for her, which was incredibly upsetting for me at the time,” he continued.
Harry also drew parallels between his experience and his mother Princess Diana. “I’ve always heard people refer to my mother as paranoid, but she wasn’t. She was fearful of what was actually happening to her and now I know that I was the same,” he told the court.
After cross-examination, Mr Sherborne asked Harry: “Finally, Prince Harry, you have been in that witness box for over a day and a half. You have had to go through these articles and answer questions knowing this is a very public courtroom and the world’s media are watching, how has that made you feel?”
Harry paused, looked emotional, and eventually answered: “Erm, it’s a lot.”
