Why has Prince Harry not flown back to the UK for High Court trial against News Group Newspapers?

Prince Harry is reportedly currently still at home in Montecito in California with his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. It was thought that he would have been making his way to the UK yesterday (Monday January 20), so he would be able to attend his High Court trial against News Group Newspapers.

Former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson is also taking legal action, along with Prince Harry. Since the Duke of Sussex launched his case in 2019, the trial, presided over by Mr Justice Fancourt, has been twice delayed.

39 individuals reached settlements when it came to their claims against NGN in the period of July and December last year. These individuals included Hollywood actor Hugh Grant who posted on X that he did not want to settle, but did so in order to avoid paying millions in legal costs.

Hugh Grant said at the time that NGN claimed it was “entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing - phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and the destruction of evidence".

Hugh Grant went on to say that “As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court.

"I don't want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court.

"But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides."

Other celebrities who have settled include actress Sienna Miller, former footballer Paul Gascoigne, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, comedian Catherine Tate, radio presenter Chris Moyles, actor Matthew Horne and ex-Boyzone star Shane Lynch.

Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in February to give evidence.