The High Court judge presiding over Prince Harry's phone-hacking lawsuit has identified "troubling factual inconsistencies" between the royal's recent testimony and his previous claims, according to reports.
The judge's remarks followed the Duke of Sussex's allegations of a "secret agreement" between the royal family and Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN), which he claimed had deterred him from filing a lawsuit sooner.
However, Justice Fancourt pointed out that Prince Harry's testimony contradicted his initial argument that he had not sued NGN before 2019 due to a lack of knowledge about the alleged phone hacking.
The judge said, "Another thing that is troubling me is what appears to be a factual inconsistency in the current pleaded case about the way the Duke of Sussex did not have the knowledge before 2019 to bring a claim and your proposed amendment which seems to say he would have brought a claim in 2012 except for the secret agreement."
After Harry's attorney, David Sherborne, contended that a claim made in 2012 would be "totally different" from the current claim, Justice Fancourt emphasized the "factual inconsistencies in the way the case is pleaded." Additionally, the judge questioned Sherborne's decision to introduce new evidence without properly filing an application to submit the material to the court.
A preliminary hearing was held on Tuesday to determine whether Prince Harry's case against NGN would proceed to trial. During the hearing, Harry alleged that Murdoch's media company and Buckingham Palace had entered into a "secret deal." This purported agreement, organized by Queen Elizabeth and Murdoch in 2012, was reportedly designed to prevent the royal family from suing Murdoch's publications until existing lawsuits against NGN were resolved.
Court documents related to Prince Harry's lawsuit also revealed this week that Murdoch allegedly made a "very large" undisclosed payment to Prince William in connection with the phone-hacking scandal. The documents indicated that Murdoch settled with Prince William for "a very large sum of money in 2020."
NGN has since denied the existence of any "secret deal" between the media company and the royal family.