Prince Harry to return to UK to give evidence in phone hacking case

The Duke of Sussex is expected to return to Britain to give evidence in his latest legal battle against British newspaper publishers.

Just over a month after attending his father the King’s coronation, Prince Harry will be in London next week for a High Court trial.

He will appear as a witness in a lawsuit brought by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) along with other high-profile figures seeking damages from alleged illegal information gathering, including phone hacking, on their headlines.

It is believed to be the first time a senior member of the royal family has appeared in court proceedings in person since 2002, when the Princess Royal appeared for a charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act after her pet two children in Windsor Great Park. Convicted.

The duke’s visit to watch Charles’ coronation was his first public appearance with the royal family since he criticized his relatives in his controversial memoir Spare.

Within hours of the historic ceremony, Harry was on a plane back to California to be reunited with wife Meghan, daughter Lilibet and son Archie, who turns four on May 6, the day of the coronation.

The Sussexes briefly hit headlines after a spokesperson alleged the couple and Meghan’s mother were “involved in a disastrous car chase at the hands of a ring of overly aggressive paparazzi” after the trio attended an awards ceremony in New York The queen was honored.

MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, is contesting claims made by Harries and others that its journalists were linked to voicemail interception, fraudulent information gathering and illegal Hiring private investigators for activities.

Harry is one of four representative claimants whose cases have been selected for trial. The others are Coronation Street actors Michael Turner and Nikki Sanderson and Fiona Wightman, ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse.

The Duke is due to appear in court on Monday for the opening of his case against MGN, and is expected to enter the witness box on Tuesday.

His relationship with the King and his brother the Prince of Wales is strained and Harry is unlikely to spend time with his relatives on what is expected to be a brief visit to the capital.

It is thought Harry still has use of Frogmore Cottage in Berkshire before the Sussexes vacated the property, but it is not known whether he will use it.

Harry now lives with Meghan and their children in Montecito, California, after the couple stepped down as royals for a life of financial independence.