Prince Harry is going to have to explain himself!
As Perezcious readers know, the Duke of Sussex has been going up against several British tabloids in various privacy cases, even though he’s had little success so far with it. And now a newspaper is calling him out for deleting evidence related to his phone hacking claim! OMG!
Representing News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun, attorney Anthony Hudson argued in court on Thursday that the Archewell founder deleted drafts of his 2023 Spare memoir and messages to ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer (pictured above, inset) amid this legal fight, which allegedly may have been useful information in the ongoing legal battle. He argued via The Telegraph:
“Troubling evidence that a large number of potentially relevant documents and confidential messages between the Duke and the ghostwriter of Spare were destroyed sometime between 2021 and 2023, well after this claim was underway.”
Yikes!
Related: Meghan Markle’s Secret Battle With The Beckhams!
A judge has now sided with NGN, calling the lack of documentation “rather remarkable” and something that has given him “cause for concern.” Oh, no. While it was “not transparently clear about what happened,” the judge reportedly asked Meghan Markle‘s husband, who was not present in court, for a witness statement explaining “what happened to the messages between himself and his ghostwriter and whether any attempts were made to retrieve them.”
On why these messages even matter, Justice Timothy Fancourt said via The Guardian:
“It seems to me inherently likely that in the course of discussing at length the material for the duke’s autobiography, matters would have been said that related to the parts of Spare in which unlawful information gathering in relation to newspapers is discussed.”
If NGN can prove Harry believed he had a potential claim against NGN before 2013, the case could be dismissed on grounds that it was filed too late, according to the outlet. But Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne is already clapping back at the allegations, saying that the newspaper company was engaging in a “transparent, old-fashioned fishing expedition,” via court papers obtained by People. David furthered:
“NGN’s tactical and sluggish approach to disclosure wholly undermines the deliberately sensational assertion that [the Duke of Sussex] has not properly carried out the disclosure exercise. This is untrue. In fact, the Claimant has already made clear that he has conducted extensive searches, going above and beyond his obligations.”
According to the attorney, a physical search of the 39-year-old’s California home was conducted. Plus, they also confirmed old email addresses were no longer accessible and made inquiries to the “Royal Household” about any relevant docs. Huh… Seems odd that they’d lose all this information in a relatively recent time frame, right?? But then again, why would Harry delete evidence in the case he’s been fighting for years? Surely, he’s smarter than that!
Remember, he’s one of several people suing the publisher for invasion of privacy claims dated between 1994 and 2016. Some of the cases are likely to be heard at a trial next January, so destroying evidence isn’t wise! Whatever really happened, these are some sketchy allegations! We’re curious to see what he has to say for himself. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below)!