Top 5RB tenant represents Duke in alleged phone-hacking trial in High Court this week
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, was introduced to celebrity barrister David Sherborne by Elton John whilst on holiday in France, it was reported this week.
The Duke revealed details of the “chance” meeting in the High Court, where he is giving evidence for his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). He claims journalists from three of the publisher’s titles — the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People — sourced information unlawfully, including through phone hacking, to publish a number of articles about him between 1996 and 2010. MGN contests the claims, and denies phone hacking or any unlawful activity.
Harry was on holiday with wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, in France in summer 2019. The couple were introduced to the 5RB tenant by Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, the Daily Mail reports.
Privacy and defamation specialist Sherborne is known to be a “barrister to the stars” and last summer represented Colleen Rooney in the highly-publicised ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial and has also represented the Duke’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Kate Moss. Though he’s not a KC, the top barrister is often elevated to the status of silk by the media, as we reported last month.
Andrew Green KC, for MGN, reportedly asked Harry when he first sought advice from solicitors for a possible claim against the publisher, to which the Duke replied: “I didn’t go to them. I bumped into Mr Sherborne in France… it’s in my book.”
In his book, Spare, published earlier this year to much fanfare, Harry writes: “It was partially down to Elton and David. At the end of our recent visit they’d introduced us to a barrister, an acquaintance of theirs, a lovely fellow who knew more about the phone-hacking scandal than anyone I’d ever met.”
The barrister shared his expertise, plus loads of open-court evidence, and suggested he hire his own lawyer, Harry writes in his book. He went on to write the thought had never occurred to him but later Sherborne was hired.
The trial continues.
