The Duke of Sussex and the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson are in intense negotiations over a potential settlement with the publisher of the Sun, the high court has heard, as the start of their high-profile trial in London was pushed back.
Prince Harry and Lord Watson are suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering. NGN, which also published the now defunct News of the World, denies any unlawful activity took place at the Sun.
At the 11th hour, with the trial having been due to open at 10.30am on Tuesday, counsel for both sides asked for two adjournments delaying the start until the afternoon. At 2pm, the trial judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, refused a third joint request from legal counsel to adjourn until Wednesday, saying the two sides had had “ample time” to come to terms, and he was not persuaded there was “a real will” to settle the case.
Both parties said they would seek to appeal against the judge’s decision before the trial opened, which means the case is now scheduled to resume at 10am on Wednesday.
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said the parties “have been involved in very intense negotiations over the last few days and the reality is we are very close”, adding that there were “time difference difficulties”.
“Very unusually, both parties are in complete agreement that this is a very important step. Both parties feel they have no choice but to persist in this,” he added. “We do believe in the long run that this will give significant benefit to the court. For the sake of two hours, we are very concerned that if we don’t have these two hours, something that is capable of being achieved may not be achieved.
“The reason there is a real difficulty today is to do with time difference issues. These time difference difficulties will be resolved very shortly this afternoon and that is why we do suggest that if my lord is willing to resume tomorrow at 10am, that could make a very significant difference to the parties.”
David Sherborne, for the duke and Watson, said the parties “would not be asking for further time if we did not think it stood any prospect of potentially saving a lot of court time”.
Dismissing the request for a third delay, Fancourt said: “I am not satisfied on the basis of what I have been shown so far that the trial should not proceed at this time and will therefore not allow the further adjournment.”
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He then refused the parties permission to appeal against his decision, but said: “I’m not going to stand in the way of access to justice if the parties wish to go to the court of appeal.”
The high court trial, which could last up to 10 weeks, is set to resume at 10am on Wednesday.
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