The Duke of Sussex was “kept out of the loop” regarding alleged unlawful information gathering by tabloid newspapers in relation to the royal household, the High Court has heard.

David Sherborne, representing Harry, told the court on Wednesday that, before 2012, the duke believed there was only one voicemail which his brother left for him that had been intercepted.

The barrister said Harry thought the tabloid press “wouldn’t have been stupid enough to go after his messages, given the security services’ involvement”, and that there were members of royal staff who he was aware believed they had been hacked but he was “kept out of the loop”.

“He was told more in 2012 but that was essentially dealt with by his family, the institution as he described it.

“That is no criticism of the [late] Queen or his family, that is how it was done and he accepted it.

“One also has to remember at the times he was on active service in Afghanistan.”

Lawyers for the publisher claim there is no hard evidence against the paper but only “general pleas” of voicemail interception and phone tapping by Sun journalists.

The hearing has resumed after lunch and Prince Harry’s legal team led by David Sherborne, is now bringing a counter argument against claims Hugh Grant knew of phone hacking claims but failed to bring the claim forward earlier.

The lawyer representing Prince Harry and fellow claimants,  David Sherborne, is now arguing why he believes The Sun’s application to have the claims thrown out should be denied, Thomas Kingsley reports.

He said that Hugh Grant is watching along by live link and will be in court tomorrow (Thursday).

He added that the Duke of Sussex extended his apologies for not attending but is also following by live link.

Kate Ng reports:

The Duke of Sussex wrote about their fraught relationship in his memoir Spare, which was released in January this year.

Harry alleged that William once “knocked me to the floor” during an argument about Meghan in 2019.

The court is still going through claims against The Sun, Thomas Kingsley reports. Lawyers for the publisher claim there is no hard evidence against the paper but only “general pleas” of voicemail interception and phone tapping by Sun journalists.

Lawyers claim the allegations brought the Duke of Sussex and the other claimants may point to “illegal activity” on the part of private investigators but not The Sun newspaper, with the defence denying any commissioning of investigators.

The hearing is underway, the legal team representing The Sun have begun this morning with a recap of the Duke’s claims against the publisher, Thomas Kingsley reports.

Yesterday the court heard of Prince William’s private settlement with The Sun in 2020 in addition to Prince Harry’s efforts to block journalists from attending his wedding in 2018.

King Charles tried to stop his son Prince Harry taking legal action against the publisher of The Sun, according to court documents.

"I was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an ‘effect on all the family’," Prince Harry said.

"This was a direct request (or rather demand) from my father, Edward Young and my father’s private secretary, Clive Alderton."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted on a date night in Los Angeles on Monday night, as Prince Harry prepares to attend his father’s coronation in less than two weeks.

A clip of the couple shared on social media showed Meghan giggling as Harry appears to lean towards her for a kiss.

Kate Ng reports:

The High Court has been told that the late Queen backed the Duke of Sussex’s bid for an apology from media mogul Rupert Murdoch but were blocked by Charles’ staff, reports Jess Glass.

Prince Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles. In his written statement, the duke said he was angry about “appalling treatment” his wife had faced from Murdoch-owned newspapers and was “frustrated” about a lack of progress on phone hacking.

Harry said his brother, the Prince of Wales, was “very understanding and supportive and agreed that we needed to do it” and “suggested that I seek permission from ‘granny”’ - the late Queen.

The duke continued: “I spoke to her shortly afterwards and said something along the lines of: ‘Are you happy for me to push this forward, do I have your permission?’ And she said: ‘Yes.”’

Harry said the Queen’s then-director of communications Sally Osman was then “given the green light to approach senior executives at NGN on behalf of the institution, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, William and me, to broker a resolution and an apology from Mr Murdoch”.

However, Harry claimed that there was “very little support” from the Queen’s private secretary, as well as staff from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House “despite my grandmother having given her consent”.