Prince Harry Ordered By Judge To Explain ‘Deliberately Destroyed’ Evidence Amid Privacy Case: ‘Remarkable’
A judge is demanding Prince Harry explain himself after the judge questions whether "potentially relevant" evidence in his case has been "deliberately destroyed."
Judge Timothy Fancourt said it was troubling when it was revealed all communications between Harry, 39, and memoir writer J.R. Moehringer, in addition to drafts of his best-selling memoir, 'Spare' has gone missing in the ongoing case against the publishers of a British tabloid.
The Telegraph reported that the Duke of Sussex allegedly "deliberately destroyed" evidence related to his High Court phone hacking claims against the publisher of The Sun. The judge has demanded an explanation.
On June 27, Fancourt maintains that he's seen "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."
Furthermore, the media outlet reported that the judge said the lack of documentation was "rather remarkable," and deemed it a "cause for concern." He added that it was "not transparently clear about what happened," asking an absent Prince Harry for a witness statement detailing "what happened to the messages between himself and his ghostwriter and whether any attempts were made to retrieve them."
However, the prince's attorney David Sherborne doesn't seem to be moved, claiming that NGN's accusations were a "transparent, old-fashioned fishing expedition," per 'Yahoo'.
"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," Sherborne said in court documents.
"This is untrue. In fact, the Claimant has already made clear that he has conducted extensive searches, going above and beyond his obligations."
The Duke of Sussex and over 40 others are suing Mirror Group Newspapers for allegations of unlawful information-gathering from journalists and private investigators it hired, per 'BBC'. NGN has continued to deny the claim, per the media outlet.
