Gone today, heir tomorrow: Prince Harry skips his first day in court

If the Duke of Sussex’s new self-described ‘life’s mission’ is to dish out a bit of payback to the out-of-control tabloids then this very surprising snub to the media circus worked, writes Tom Peck

The sons of kings tend not to acquaint themselves with the insides of witness boxes in the courts of law (Getty)

Nothing is going to stop Prince Harry from having his day in court. Apart from, it turns out, Harry himself.

It’s fair to say that what none of us quite saw coming was that he simply wouldn’t turn up because he had to be at his two-year-old daughter’s birthday party.

His barrister, David Sherborne, in his rather theatrical way, said only that his client’s “travel and security arrangements are such that it is a littly bit tricky”.