Prince Harry arrives at High Court in London to give evidence in phone hacking trial

Prince Harry has arrived at the High Court today for his phone hacking trial against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, where he will become the first royal to testify since 1891.

The Duke of Sussex flew into the UK from California on Monday looking relaxed and even smiling as he entered the modern annex of the Supreme Court – the Rolls Building – and said “good morning” to the waiting press.

Yesterday he was criticized by one of Britain’s top judges and charged with wasting court time after missing the first day of his landmark case – to celebrate his daughter Lilibet’s birthday in Montecito before heading to Britain. Britain flew.

This morning, Harry takes the stand to become the first senior royal to give testimony in 132 years, taking an oath to tell the truth under the coat of arms of his father the Sovereign.

Harry and three others are suing the Mirror group, claiming that the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and The People newspaper have hacked their phones or engaged in other illegal activities, which are denied.

In 1891, Edward VII gave evidence when a defamation suit was brought by a card player accused of cheating at baccarat at a time when gambling was illegal. His appearance on the witness stand left Queen Victoria unamused – but it is not known what Harry’s father, King Charles III, thinks of his son’s historic appearance in court.

The Duke of Sussex will spend two days on the High Court witness stand this week – twice as many as when he came for the coronation. It’s not clear if he’ll see his father or brother this week — or meet his cousin’s new son Ernest, Princess Eugenie, who was born last Tuesday.

He made a flying visit for the momentous day his father, King Charles, was crowned, spending about 28 hours in Britain before returning to California.

But the Duke seems to have more time for his legal crusade against the publisher of the Mirror newspapers.

He is expected to spend a full day on the Supreme Court witness stand today and at least half a day tomorrow.

In fact, he could have started his testimony yesterday, but he only flew to the UK on Sunday evening to help celebrate his two-year-old daughter’s birthday.

An irked judge reprimanded the duke’s lawyer when it became clear that the royal witness was ‘unavailable’ for the opening day of his own trial against the publisher of the Mirror newspaper.

David Sherborne explained that his client fell into a “different category” due to his “travel and security arrangements.” Those arrangements included Harry flying out of California on Sunday night after celebrating Princess Lilibet of Sussex’s second birthday, the court heard.

KC Andrew Green of The Mirror said it was ‘absolutely extraordinary’ that Harry was ‘unavailable for the first day of his trial’. Justice Fancourt said he was ‘a little surprised’ that Harry wasn’t there, and chided Mr Sherborne for causing ‘roster chaos’.

Harry, 38, complains that a 2003 article in The People deepened a bitter split with Prince William – revealing that the brothers fell out 20 years ago over Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell. It described a supposedly private altercation over how to deal with Mr Burrell, who was accused of talking to the media about her private affairs.

William allegedly claimed that meeting Mr. Burrell was “the only way to keep him from selling more Diana secrets,” while Harry thought the former valet would simply take the opportunity to make money. Mr. Sherborne said, “Even at this very early stage of formation, the seeds of discord between these two brothers are beginning to be sown.” He alleged that Harry was subject to unlawful activity from when he was a young boy, after his mother’s death, through training in the Sandhurst army and into young adulthood.

He said, “Nothing was sacred and off limits — every facet of his life, even the revelations of the ups and downs of his first serious relationship with Chelsy Davy.” But the publisher’s KC insisted, “There’s simply no evidence that the Duke of Sussex was ever hacked – much less that he was hacked on a regular basis.”

Mr Green said unlike other hacking cases supported by phone records, Harry’s case had ‘zero, zero, nada’ similar evidence. He also said it was a “striking fact” that not even convicted phone hackers Graham Johnson and Dan Evans – former Mirror journalists who gave testimony in support of Harry – said the Duke or those close to him were hacked.

Mr Green added that the Metropolitan Police had thoroughly investigated the phone hacking scandal and had never suggested to Harry that he was a victim. Harry alleges that approximately 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 contained information collected using illegitimate methods.

Mr Sherborne claimed the duke’s phone was ‘hacked several times’, along with those of his family, friends and royal aides. He said Harry – who is also suing the publisher of The Sun and the Daily Mail – was not pursuing a “vendetta against the British media in general” but wanted to use his fame to “draw attention”.

Piers Morgan’s Daily Mirror also hacked Princess Diana’s voicemails from Harry when he was a schoolboy, it was alleged.

Sherborne said the former editor of the title had bragged that he had heard that Diana had secretly comforted TV comic Michael Barrymore, who was in turmoil over his addiction and coming out as gay. would have heard private messages from Prince Harry.”

Mr Green said this was ‘total speculation with no evidence whatsoever’. The case will run for seven weeks, with claims from Coronation Street actors Michael Turner and Nikki Sanderson and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman.