Prince Harry’s Lawyer Calls Piers Morgan’s No-Show at Phone Hacking Trial ‘Fatal’

Prince Harry's lawyer David Sherborne had some strong words after Piers Morgan was not called to testify by defense in the Duke of Sussex's case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – despite Morgan, who is the former editor of the Daily Mirror, commenting on the trial outside of court.

"Rather than come and give evidence to meet [the allegations], he has chosen instead to confine his comments to outside the courtroom," Sherborne said during closing statements in London's High Court Tuesday, Reuters reported. 

He later added that MGN's failure to call the former Good Morning Britain anchor and other journalists to testify "leaves enormous holes, we say fatal holes, in the defendant's case."

According to Reuters, just three journalists were called to testify during the six-week trial.

The British tabloid group's lawyers responded by saying that calling Morgan — who served as editor of Daily Mirror from 1995 to 2004 — as a witness was unnecessary. Prince Harry is suing MGN for alleged phone hacking and other unlawful behavior from 1991 to 2011. 

Before the trial began, the former America's Got Talent judge issued his two cents on the matter. The broadcaster has a long history of tension with the Archewell founder, even storming off the set of GMB after co-presenter Alex Beresford called him out for continuing to "trash" Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, after the couple's explosive 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

“All I am going to say is I am not going to take lectures on privacy invasion from Prince Harry," he said during an appearance on ITV News in May.

During his testimony earlier this month, defense lawyer Andrew Green grilled Prince Harry about his phone hacking accusations against the tabloid group, asking the UK native if he would be "relieved or disappointed" if the court couldn't find evidence to prove his claims, per CNN.

While MGN had previously acknowledged improper reporting on at least one story, it denied hacking any phones or intercepting voicemail messages. Sherborne previously said the publisher's claims there "was just one instance of unlawful information gathering" are "plainly implausible."

Though he appeared in court on consecutive days in June, Prince Harry missed the proceedings on June 5 because of his "tricky" travel arrangements, Sherborne previously said.