Prince Harry made a surprise appearance Monday at High Court, and was also there on Tuesday.
Prince Harry is in London, England, this week amid a High Court hearing in a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL). The hearing is part of the case in which Harry and other public figures claim they were hacked. The Duke of Sussex has been photographed outside of the courtroom several time this week.
Despite being in the United Kingdom, Harry likely won't reunite with his estranged father, King Charles III, or his estranged brother, Prince William.
Buckingham Palace tells ET that King Charles was not in Windsor or London on Monday while Prince Harry attended the High Court proceedings. A royal source also tells ET that Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were also not in Windsor, as they are away for Easter.
Harry's appearance on Monday is believed to be the first time the 38-year-old royal has been back to the United Kingdom since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September. It's also just over a month ahead of his his father, King Charles III's, coronation on May 6. It is unknown whether Harry plans to attend the historic event.
His surprise return also comes nearly three months after he publicized stories about his troubled relationship with his dad and his brother in his autobiography, Spare. Harry also released a Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, with his wife, Meghan Markle, in December, which included details of their struggles within the royal family.
In the impending lawsuit, the Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John and actresses Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley are among the individuals who allege unlawful information gathering.
Harry arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand on Monday after flying to London overnight from the United States, according to the BBC. Elton John and actress Sadie Frost also showed up to court.
A four-day preliminary High Court hearing in London, starting on Monday, will consider legal arguments and a judge will decide whether the case will go any further. ANL is bidding to end the claims, and has described the allegations as "preposterous smears."
Others taking part in the legal action include Elton John's husband, David Furnish, Baroness Doreen Lawrence -- the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993 -- and Sir Simon Hughes.
The seven claimants launched their legal action last year after becoming aware of apparent "compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy" by ANL, according to a statement by law firm Hamlins released in October 2022.
Their law firm alleges in written submissions to the court that the newspaper group engaged in "illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening into live landline calls, obtaining private information…and using private investigators to commit these unlawful information gathering acts on their behalf."
Associated Newspapers, meanwhile, "utterly and unambiguously" denies the "unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence," which it describes as "preposterous smears" and an "orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal."
Court proceedings began with a bid by ANL's lawyers to have certain reporting restrictions imposed in the case.
On Monday, Harry reportedly sat towards the back of the courtroom, occasionally taking notes in a small notebook as legal arguments were made.
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