Prince Harry will appear at the High Court tomorrow as he attempts to prove Mirror Group Newspapers published stories about him using information that was illegally obtained over two decades.

The Duke of Sussex wasn’t in court when his individual case against the newspaper group was opened today, but his lawyer David Sherborne shared some of the articles which will make up part of his case.

Mr Sherbone said the 33 articles which will form Harry’s case are just a fraction of the 2,500 the royal identified as being published about him over the period.

Here are the ones which have been brought up so far.

‘Diana so sad on Harry’s big day’

Harry’s lawyer told the court unlawful information gathering against the duke began in January 1996 when he was 11 years old.

The Daily Mirror reported that Princess Diana “looked sad and upset” as she made a “brief 12th birthday visit to Prince Harry” at his school.

Prince Harry trial – as it happened

While this story wasn’t exclusive to the Mirror, the details – including how she spent just 20 minutes with him – were unique to the paper’s story, Mr Sherborne said.

He argued there were “telltale signs” of unlawful information gathering – but Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) has denied such practices took place.

‘Harry’s cocaine parties’

Mr Sherborne later mentioned an article published in January 2002 in which it was implied the duke had taken drugs.

The lawyer said the journalist whose byline featured on the article was working under an editor who had Harry’s phone number in his palm pilot device.

MGN denies unlawful information-gathering practices took place.

‘Beach bum Harry’

The High Court was told of articles about Prince Harry while he was in Australia in 2003.

His lawyer said Frank Thorne, a “freelancer-come-private investigator”, was “digging into the prince’s movements” during his trip.

One article from 16 December 2003 reported how Prince Harry, who was then 19, “let it all hang out as he frolicked in the surf with a bunch of pals”.

MGN says the information in the article came from an Australian freelance photographer and was first published in the Evening Standard the previous day.

‘Harry is a Chelsy fan’

A story published in November 2004 revealed Prince Harry’s relationship with Chelsy Davy – with the duke having first met her while she was a boarder at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.

Mirror journalist Anthony Harwood was asked in court about when he was tasked with finding out the identity of a “mystery blonde” seen with Harry in Argentina.

Mr Sherborne asked Mr Harwood whether he was aware the freelancer tasked with making inquiries was “very well-known for blagging flight details”.

Mr Harwood says he was not, and later added that the freelancer did “nothing of the sort” on the Ms Davy story.

MGN argues the information related Ms Davy’s identity came from a prior report in the Mail On Sunday, two confidential sources and a South African photographer.

Read more:
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Analysis: Explosive start to Prince Harry’s legal battle
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‘Harry’s girl to dump him’

Mr Sherborne told the court Prince Harry was “little more than a child” at the time of his relationship with Ms Davy and they felt they were never on their own.

This ultimately led to Ms Davy deciding to break things off as she felt “royal life was not for her”, Mr Sherborne said.

He added this was “incredibly upsetting” for the prince at the time.

The Daily Mirror ran a front-page story about Ms Davy reportedly breaking things off with him in January 2005.

MGN says the information came from a confidential source and was not illegally obtained.

‘Down in the dumped’

In November 2007, the Daily Mirror ran a story saying Prince Harry “put on a brave face” as he marched with his military regiment after Ms Davy reportedly “asked for a trial separation in an emotional phone call last week”.

In a witness statement read out in court, Mr Sherbone detailed how Harry felt press intrusion into his relationship with Ms Davy “caused his circle of friends to become smaller and smaller” and relationships were lost “entirely unnecessarily”.

Harry was “suffering bouts of depression as a result”, the lawyer said.

MGN has said the military march was covered by news agencies, while the “trial separation” line had been reported by the News of the World, the Mail on Sunday and Reuters.

Harry In Court – Watch special programme on Sky News each night at 9pm

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