Harry returns to court after giving evidence in trial against Mail publisher

The Duke of Sussex has returned to a court in London for the fourth day of the trial of his legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

Harry arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice for a fourth consecutive day around 10.05am on Thursday, after giving evidence in his High Court claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) on Wednesday.

Wearing a dark suit, he waved and smiled at reporters gathered outside court, and when asked how he was feeling, replied: “Great, thank you.”

The duke, 41, is one of seven people, including Sir Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Liz Hurley, suing the publisher over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

ANL strongly denies wrongdoing and is defending the claims.

A spokesperson for the duke said on Wednesday evening that he would attend court again on Thursday “to support, and show solidarity with, the other claimants”.

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin is scheduled to resume at 10.30am, with Hurley expected to give evidence.

Giving evidence for around two hours on Wednesday, the duke appeared emotional as he told the court that ANL had made his wife Meghan’s life “an absolute misery”.

Answering questions from his barrister, David Sherborne, about how the proceedings had made him feel, the duke said: “It’s fundamentally wrong to put us through this again when all we wanted was an apology and accountability.

“It’s a horrible experience.”

Sounding emotional and appearing to be on the verge of tears, he continued: “They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.”

In court, the duke said the case against ANL felt like a “recurring traumatic experience” and a “repeat of the past”, adding: “I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people.”

The alleged unlawful information gathering in the duke’s case relates to 14 articles between 2001 and 2013.

In written submissions for the trial, Antony White KC, for ANL, said the publisher “strongly denies” that there was any unlawful information gathering, including voicemail interception, directed at the duke.

He continued that the articles “were sourced entirely legitimately from information variously provided by contacts of the journalists responsible, including individuals in the Duke of Sussex’s social circle, press officers and publicists, freelance journalists, photographers and prior reports”.

In court on Tuesday, Mr White said that the claims against the publisher were “threadbare” and had been brought too late.

He continued that journalists at the organisation provide a “compelling account of a pattern of legitimate sourcing” of the more than 50 articles that are alleged to be the products of unlawful information gathering, including from the “leaky” social circles of the celebrities’ friends.

During his evidence on Wednesday, the duke denied having “leaky” social circles, as he insisted he was unable to complain about press coverage because of the royal institution.

In a frosty exchange between Harry and lawyers acting on behalf of ANL, the duke told the High Court: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”