The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 - July 2024

[Ghost]

Prince Harry will be honored at this year’s ESPYs. The ESPYs are ESPN’s prestigious awards for athletes, sports commentators and people adjacent to sports. This year’s ESPYs will be held on Thursday, July 11th at 8 PM on ABC, and they’re being hosted by ESPY winner and GOAT Serena Williams. ESPN just announced the recipients of their special awards, like the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage (which is going to Steve Gleason) and the Pat Tillman Award for Service. Which is going to Harry. Per ESPN’s media release:

Prince Harry to be honored at 2024 ESPYS

Prince Harry will be honored with an ESPY for his work with the Invictus Games.

abcnews.go.com

The comments on the espn account on X for the award are gold.

 

[Durham]

If he wants publicity he should be handing out awards not receiving them.

Noblesse oblige & all that.

 

[Chimene]

If he wants publicity he should be handing out awards not receiving them.

Noblesse oblige & all that.

He’s trying to drown the bad news coming out of the courtroom in . But I’m really confused about the reason he’s receiving this award? Playing polo a few times in the summer hardly makes him an athlete .

 

[Marengo]

Wouldn't it be for his role in the Invictus Games perhaps?

 

[Chimene]

Wouldn't it be for his role in the Invictus Games perhaps?

Perhaps. But I still think it’s not deserved as it should go to, in that case, a wounded soldier. In my opinion of course.

 

[Chimene]

Judge tells Prince Harry to explain how communications with ghostwriter were destroyed​

A London judge has ordered Prince Harry to explain how communications with the ghostwriter of his memoir were destroyed after a lawyer for a tabloid he is suing accused him of engaging in “shocking” obfuscation
By Brian Melley | AP
June 27, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Judge tells Prince Harry to explain how communications with ghostwrit…

archived 27 Jun 2024 19:25:21 UTC

archive.ph

 

[LadyJaneGrey]

How serious are these claims about evidence destroying? Obviously it's not a great look but are there any practical consequences if the claims are proven?

 

[Chimene]

How serious are these claims about evidence destroying? Obviously it's not a great look but are there any practical consequences if the claims are proven?

Nothing will come of any of it of course, such is the privilege afforded to him by the system he trashed, but what it will do however, is solidify his lack of integrity and credibility.

 

[Somebody]

If evidence was destroyed after the court case was started (so on purpose), that won't help Harry's case; as the defense can rightfully claim that Harry obstructed justice as he made fact-finding impossible.

It was also made clear that it was Harry himself who is going through his communication deciding on what might be relevant to the case/the opposing party. That also seemed an unpleasant surprise for the judge... So, while I don't know the exact consequences, it will be considered when the judgment has to be called.

Any legal scholars with knowledge of the British system that might be able to shed a light on this?

 

[Chimene]

Yes, I’m very interested in the question above. I would love to hear from someone with insight into the subject.

To me it looks like he’s making a mockery out of the judicial system and that kind of thing would not be tolerated here in the United States, no matter who you are.

 

[tommy100]

Nothing will come of any of it of course, such is the privilege afforded to him by the system he trashed, but what it will do however, is solidify his lack of integrity and credibility.

He has had to pay £60,000 so far so something has come off it - well that was my reading of the situation

Prince Harry ordered by judge to explain why messages were ‘destroyed’

The Duke of Sussex has been ordered to explain why messages with his ghostwriter were deleted as he continues to battle with News Group Newspapers

www.thetimes.com

 

[Hallo girl]

I do have concerns for Harry that he is the pawn in the game, there are 40 other people seemingly raising claims but it is Harry that appears to be running the gauntlet. I fear he is being used.
I m not saying that the press did not have dubious methods all those years ago, and we all have our theories on how he should be dealing with it, but I have my concerns .

 

[Chimene]

Hoist with his own petard… He was warned.

 

[Claire]

Can any tell me how this even relates to the case - if these are emails about Spare - why are they evidence about phone hacking from the 1990's and 2000's?

 

[Somebody]

If I understand it correctly, these messages might indicate that Harry knew about the phone hacking at an earlier stage than he admitted thus far, if so, the statue of limitations might apply.

 

[Hallo girl]

I thought NGN had already admitted improper practices at a particular time and that is why some victims have already settled their cases out of court, if that is the case why does this court case need to continue. Surely by settling ,that is an admission of a level of guilt, so what more can be achieved.
Harry obviously wants more than just monetary recompense, because he could have had that. I just wonder if it is worth all the stress and strain.

 

[iceflower]

The Duchess of Sussex was seen in Los Angeles, taking part in a photo shoot:


** dailymail article **

 

[Ghost]

I thought NGN had already admitted improper practices at a particular time and that is why some victims have already settled their cases out of court, if that is the case why does this court case need to continue. Surely by settling ,that is an admission of a level of guilt, so what more can be achieved.
Harry obviously wants more than just monetary recompense, because he could have had that. I just wonder if it is worth all the stress and strain.

It doesn’t affect the time line that Harry has to respect. As it’s a civil lawsuit, it’s not about what NGN did or did not, it’s about compensation demanded by the claimants. If it’s proven that Harry was aware at a date before the one he pretends it is, his case is null.

 

[Lori138]

I thought NGN had already admitted improper practices at a particular time and that is why some victims have already settled their cases out of court, if that is the case why does this court case need to continue. Surely by settling ,that is an admission of a level of guilt, so what more can be achieved.
Harry obviously wants more than just monetary recompense, because he could have had that. I just wonder if it is worth all the stress and strain.

It is probably worth the stress and strain to the lawyers getting paid for this debacle.

 

[Kenya]

Any legal scholars with knowledge of the British system that might be able to shed a light on this?

I'm definitely not an expert in the British system, but here in the states (closely modeled on the British system), destroying evidence relevant to the case can result in multiple kinds of sanctions, including: (1) monetary sanctions (usually being required to pay the fees the opposing party has incurred in litigating the issue of whether the evidence was destroyed, but in more severe cases, a punitive monetary fine); (2) being precluded from making certain arguments in support of your case; (3) the dismissal of certain parts (or all) of your case. In some egregious cases, the attorneys can be personally sanctioned.

One of the very first things we do in all our cases is send a letter to our client informing them of their obligation to preserve all evidence related to their case, no matter how tangential, where it exists, or in what form. We had a case recently where a huge tech giant had to pay us millions of dollars in sanctions for failing to preserve evidence that was deleted pursuant to the company's 4-year automatic deletion policy. It's something courts take extremely seriously, so I hope Harry's attorneys have a good explanation for where all those texts went.

 

[ladongas]

To me it looks like he’s making a mockery out of the judicial system and that kind of thing would not be tolerated here in the United States, no matter who you are.

Our judicial system is seldom so handsomely endorsed.

 

[Sister Morphine]

To me it looks like he’s making a mockery out of the judicial system and that kind of thing would not be tolerated here in the United States, no matter who you are.

Hate to break it to you, but wealthy, privileged people make a mockery of our judicial system all the time. […]

A better example would be OJ Simpson. If he was OJ Simpson the bus driver, he'd have died of prostate cancer while sitting on death row at San Quentin. However, he had the $$$$$$$$$$$$ to hire the kinds of attorneys who could get him off.

Harry is merely doing what other rich people in this country have done, still do, and will continue to do.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

It was also made clear that it was Harry himself who is going through his communication deciding on what might be relevant to the case/the opposing party. That also seemed an unpleasant surprise for the judge...

That is the point which most surprised me. Is it a known practice for (premium) attorneys to permit their clients (who have no legal training) to decide for themselves which documents are legally required to be disclosed? One of his attorneys defends it by saying the Duke is "an old hand at disclosure" from having been through a previous lawsuit, but by that logic, why should the Duke need lawyers at all for this lawsuit (shouldn't he be fine representing himself without legal assistance since, by his attorney's logic, he is "an old hand" at formulating legal submissions, responding to legal arguments, etc.)?

For other readers, this is the quote from the judge cited in the Standard's report:

“The majority of the searching for, and selection of, documents to disclose has been dealt with by the Duke himself in California,” said the judge.

A solicitor suggested Harry is an “old hand at dealing with disclosure”, after a previous legal battle against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over phone hacking.

But the judge found that he may not understand the kind of documents that have to be handed over relating the first time he became aware of a possible case against NGN.

“The knowledge issue is a subtle one and it’s a broad disclosure issue,” he said.

“Sometimes I have the impression in this claim that even the claimant’s lawyers don’t seem to fully grapple with the knowledge issue, despite it having been spelled out in the defendant’s correspondence.

“It would be not at all surprising if the claimant himself didn’t fully understand or grapple with it.”

The judge added: “It is not appropriate in my judgement, in a case of this nature, for searches of documentation and assessment of relevance to be left to the claimant personally.”
​

I'm definitely not an expert in the British system, but here in the states (closely modeled on the British system), destroying evidence relevant to the case can result in multiple kinds of sanctions, including: (1) monetary sanctions (usually being required to pay the fees the opposing party has incurred in litigating the issue of whether the evidence was destroyed, but in more severe cases, a punitive monetary fine); (2) being precluded from making certain arguments in support of your case; (3) the dismissal of certain parts (or all) of your case. In some egregious cases, the attorneys can be personally sanctioned.

One of the very first things we do in all our cases is send a letter to our client informing them of their obligation to preserve all evidence related to their case, no matter how tangential, where it exists, or in what form. We had a case recently where a huge tech giant had to pay us millions of dollars in sanctions for failing to preserve evidence that was deleted pursuant to the company's 4-year automatic deletion policy. It's something courts take extremely seriously, so I hope Harry's attorneys have a good explanation for where all those texts went.

The UK civil court rules of procedure regarding disclosure also indicate that failure to disclose relevant documents or deleting relevant electronic documents are in violation of the rules, although there is apparently no automatic sanction for such violations.

PRACTICE DIRECTION 31B – DISCLOSURE OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS – Civil Procedure Rules

www.justice.gov.uk

Procedure for standard disclosure

31.10

(1) The procedure for standard disclosure is as follows.

(2) Each party must make and serve on every other party, a list of documents in the relevant practice form.
[...]
(5) The list must include a disclosure statement.

(6) A disclosure statement is a statement made by the party disclosing the documents –
(a) setting out the extent of the search that has been made to locate documents which he is required to disclose;
(b) certifying that he understands the duty to disclose documents; and
(c) certifying that to the best of his knowledge he has carried out that duty.
[...]

Consequence of failure to disclose documents or permit inspection

31.21 A party may not rely on any document which he fails to disclose or in respect of which he fails to permit inspection unless the court gives permission.
[...]

False disclosure statements

31.23

(1) Proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against a person if he makes, or causes to be made, a false disclosure statement, without an honest belief in its truth.
​

PRACTICE DIRECTION 31A – DISCLOSURE AND INSPECTION – Civil Procedure Rules

www.justice.gov.uk

Preservation of documents

7 As soon as litigation is contemplated, the parties’ legal representatives must notify their clients of the need to preserve disclosable documents. The documents to be preserved include Electronic Documents which would otherwise be deleted in accordance with a document retention policy or otherwise deleted in the ordinary course of business.​

 

[Chimene]

Hate to break it to you, but wealthy, privileged people make a mockery of our judicial system all the time. […]

A better example would be OJ Simpson. If he was OJ Simpson the bus driver, he'd have died of prostate cancer while sitting on death row at San Quentin. However, he had the $$$$$$$$$$$$ to hire the kinds of attorneys who could get him off.

Harry is merely doing what other rich people in this country have done, still do, and will continue to do.

Oh, you’re not breaking anything to me. Trust me. Privilege is privilege everywhere whether it relates to class, money or power. However, while you can get away with that stuff most of the time, if you get caught, the system loves to make an example of you is what I should have said.

OJ was able to buy his acquittal because the system was not set up for people who look like him to have the resources needed to do just that.

 

[HRHHermione]

The more I think about the ESPYs thing, the more it doesn’t sit right with me as a decision. Prince Harry’s Invictus work is impressive, but it was also only possible because of funding from the royal foundation and support from palace infrastructure. It’s not something he achieved on his own; it’s something he did as part of his job supported by a whole team of employees. Meanwhile, there are participants who were injured in the line of duty who have worked so hard to be ambassadors to others who were injured and who champion adaptive sports.

It feels like there has to be an Invictus athlete they could have honored, both for their service and athleticism. Seems like asking Harry to present the award and recognize someone else rather than receiving it would have been much better promotion of what Invictus is about.

 

[Curryong]

As soon as he was told about the award Harry said ‘This is one for our entire service community.’

Prince Harry to be honored at 2024 ESPYS

"This one is for our entire service community," Harry said after learning of the upcoming honor.

abc7news.com

Harry has been with Invictus for the ten years it’s been in operation. He has put his entire heart and soul into it throughout. There are letters from Invictus competitors, that are probably still in the archives here at TRF, which have stated again and again how his encouragement helped get them through many hard times. And that just isn’t Invictus but Wounded Warriors as well.

 

[Chimene]

Please Harry should spare us. Since 2016 IG has been used as the sole source of good publicity for Harry.

It bears repeating that this was set up for him by the institution he so thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of, but trashed along with his country for CASH.

I don’t get how you can give a person like him an award in memory of someone who valued his country so much he lost his life to protect it. If “this one is for our community”, find someone else in that community who embodies the spirit and values of the award.

But I wouldn’t expect anything less from him because he’s only “pouring his heart and soul” for as long as it affords him all the glory.

 

[shady lady]

Please Harry should spare us. Since 2016 IG has been used as the sole source of good publicity for Harry.

It bears repeating that this was set up for him by the institution he so thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of, but trashed along with his country for CASH.

I don’t get how you can give a person like him an award in memory of someone who valued his country so much he lost his life to protect it. If “this one is for our community”, find someone else in that community who embodies the spirit and values of the award.

But I wouldn’t expect anything less from him because he’s only “pouring his heart and soul” for as long as it affords him all the glory.

Well said!

 

[tommy100]

This has been an ongoing problem - Invictus is fast becoming nothing more that a positive spin machine for Harry.

The Games every two years where Meghan appears to merch clothes for brands

An apparent new idea to tour countries e.g. Nigeria which did little for Invictus but lots for H&M personally (whether for good or bad)

Personally, it would make me quite reluctant to donate to Invictus as it seems to fast be becoming a spin machine for H&M with any good for veterans merely a side benefit.

Would love to know how much, if any, money from Invictus is spent on such frivolous, unnecessary, things.

 

[HRHHermione]

As soon as he was told about the award Harry said ‘This is one for our entire service community.’

Then they should have made it a group award for the service community, like rewarding all the athlete mentors who help train new participants for the games.

That award has always gone to someone who is not well-known but who has done incredible service or sometimes it has gone to a group, like last year, when it went to the Buffalo Bills entire training staff for saving Damar Hamlin’s life: Bills training staff to receive award at 2023 ESPYS

If it’s an award for the Invictus community, it could have been given as one since there is precedent.