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Prince Harry v The Mirror in phone hacking case

(578 Posts)
lemsip Sun 04-Jun-23 08:17:31

When Prince Harry gives evidence in the Mirror phone-hacking trial on Tuesday, he will become the first senior royal to be cross-examined in court since the 19th century. Based on what happened earlier in the trial, it is unlikely the prince will enjoy the experience.

lemsip Thu 08-Jun-23 20:48:39

In the leveson enquiry no Daily Mirror journalist was charged
with phone hacking.

lemsip Thu 08-Jun-23 18:18:10

the daily mirror was the one that didn't settle out of court and are prepared to see harry and others in court.
I read that recently and will see if I can find it

eazybee Thu 08-Jun-23 17:59:32

The barrister is David Sherborne, and was introduced to H by Elton John on holiday in France. H suggested that it was Mr. Sherborne's idea to pursue legal action. (DT 8.6.23.) Apparently it is in 'my book.'

Grantanow Thu 08-Jun-23 16:52:12

I have no doubt as to the probity of the judge. He will find on the balance of probabilities, this being a civil action, on the evidence and witnesses before him.

Callistemon21 Thu 08-Jun-23 16:24:59

Apologies - Harry said the barrister was 'a lovely fellow' whom he bumped into in France.
As you do.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 08-Jun-23 16:22:44

We don’t know that this barrister acted for him do we?

welbeck Thu 08-Jun-23 16:18:30

come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly.

Oreo Thu 08-Jun-23 16:05:18

Kindly?😂
He wanted another high profile case which also brings much dosh.

Lathyrus Thu 08-Jun-23 16:04:30

Barristers get paid- win or lose 😬

Civil cases based on probability do favour the claimants though.

Callistemon21 Thu 08-Jun-23 16:00:40

From what I've read, Harry says it was a "kindly barrister", one used by the rich and famous, who persuaded him to pursue the claim.

One would presume this barrister thought it would be worth going to court, surely he didn't think that Harry could fail, or would win merely because he is a member of the Royal Family?

Oreo Thu 08-Jun-23 15:54:44

There can’t be anyone who thinks phone hacking is alright, but if you take someone to court you need to prove it.

Oreo Thu 08-Jun-23 15:52:50

Callistemon21

^I know that our judges all swear allegiance to the crown and it’s heirs, and therefore where perhaps opinions come into it, rather than hard evidence, I wondered if the judge could be persuaded to support the crown^

This is a civil case, not a criminal case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service.

There will not be a guilty verdict as no-one is being tried. The judge will find for the claimants or not.

I hope the other claimants have some actual hard evidence, as Prince H doesn’t seem to have any.It’s all about his feelings and how he believes his phone was hacked.Even before he had a mobile most likely😄
Saying mad stuff like the media were against him from birth.
He’s said he regards it as his mission to try and destroy the newspapers here in the UK.Of course we all know that journos and all newspapers are just angels in other countries.😙

nanna8 Thu 08-Jun-23 14:02:03

Just wondering if Harry is still regarded as a royal seeing that he is no longer living in the UK or taking on any royal duties. I suppose by birth he is but he has made it clear he doesn’t want to be part of their ‘firm’.

Callistemon21 Thu 08-Jun-23 10:44:39

maddyone

Thanks for reassurance GSM and Callistemon.

I'm not legally trained but this is what I think:

The Oath of Allegiance is to The Crown, the present monarch. Including his heirs and successors means it continues should one of them succeed but not until then in their case.
The monarch cannot be prosecuted but the heirs and successors could be, as we saw when Princess Anne was fined and banned from driving for speeding.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 10:36:41

Thanks for reassurance GSM and Callistemon.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 08-Jun-23 10:28:47

The judge has to set out the reasons for his decision and if there’s the slightest suspicion of bias the decision would be appealed. The judiciary in this country, unlike some, rightly have a reputation for being above persuasion or bias.

Callistemon21 Thu 08-Jun-23 10:25:59

I know that our judges all swear allegiance to the crown and it’s heirs, and therefore where perhaps opinions come into it, rather than hard evidence, I wondered if the judge could be persuaded to support the crown

This is a civil case, not a criminal case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service.

There will not be a guilty verdict as no-one is being tried. The judge will find for the claimants or not.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 10:11:57

Of course it would be corrupt WR but as the case Meghan brought, having admitted that she ‘forgot’ something (I can’t remember the details now) but she still won her case and probably she shouldn’t have done had the correct evidence been presented, I just wondered a bit.
I know that our judges all swear allegiance to the crown and it’s heirs, and therefore where perhaps opinions come into it, rather than hard evidence, I wondered if the judge could be persuaded to support the crown. But I’m not a lawyer and GSM is a lawyer and I’m reassured by her comments.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 10:06:05

Thanks Lathyrus.

WellsRose Thu 08-Jun-23 10:02:17

maddyone

It should be remembered that judges swear allegiance to the crown and all it’s heirs. The case Meghan brought, she won, despite not appearing and despite false information being given which she then described as she ‘forgot.’ Given these two facts, I’m wondering about the possibility that our judges will never rule against the crown/royal family.
We shall await the judgement.

Well that would be corrupt.

Lathyrus Thu 08-Jun-23 09:55:50

maddyone

I’m a bit confused here. It has been said on this thread that this case is not about phone hacking as such, as that has already been proven, but it is about who knew that phone hacking was taking place, in other words if the senior management at the newspaper knew and accepted phone hacking. Looking at the evidence given by Prince Harry, if it can be called evidence because to me it seems to be merely his opinions and not in any way actual evidence, but looking at that, it seems to me that the case is actually about whether or not Harry was hacked. I’m confused. Maybe GSM can help.

I think (although it’s only from Googling) that proving he (and others) were hacked is the first step. Then it will move on to who hacked. Was it only independent investigators acting for themselves or Did the Board and the senior management authorise it or know their information came from hacking?

Then it will move on again to the question of damages.

But until it has been judged that hacking did take place the next steps are irrelevant.

It will only take one proven incidence to make the first part of the claim successful and only one subsequent one of the Board knew. But then each individual claimant will have to show a likelihood that they themselves were hacked to succeed individually.

And then they will have to show to what extent they were damaged for a payout.

That’s my understanding but I readily defer to GSM or anyone else with Legal qualifications.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 09:40:56

Thanks GSM.

Anniebach Thu 08-Jun-23 09:33:20

Anne was fined

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 08-Jun-23 09:26:37

Hacking has been proved in respect of other newspapers but apparently not the Mirror as yet.

Yes, judges swear allegiance but that doesn’t remove their duty to be impartial.

maddyone Thu 08-Jun-23 09:19:25

It should be remembered that judges swear allegiance to the crown and all it’s heirs. The case Meghan brought, she won, despite not appearing and despite false information being given which she then described as she ‘forgot.’ Given these two facts, I’m wondering about the possibility that our judges will never rule against the crown/royal family.
We shall await the judgement.