Duke of Sussex & Others vs ANL: thread 3

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This is the third thread discussing the case Prince Harry (and 6 others) are bringing against the Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers) for alleged unlawful information gathering (UIG).

Thread 1

Thread 2

Since the celebrities have given evidence, there has been limited direct reporting from court; what there is has mostly been on this link
Sky News link to court case

This image is sickening. Hugh Grant cosying up to Glenn Mulcaire (who was jailed for hacking Milly Dowler’s phone and numerous others).

So GM is now part of the Hacked Off Research Team ‘to do good’. Rather, his money stream dried up and he had no choice. Hugh Grant and Evan Harris treat the public as if they are unbelievably stupid. They do not care about the victims and are on their own agenda to gag the press. One has to wonder what exactly they are trying to hide 🤔

I also see HG has jumped on the water/sewerage bandwagon and getting lots of praise for supporting it. Acting like he is an authority 😡 People have been working on it for years and he wants the credit.

Re the case, Marius' behaviour is beyond vile. Did the Norweigan royal family cover it up long term as with Andrew (and possibly others)?

The thing is...imo one royal family member being criminal isn't the key issue. Politicians commit crimes, judges commit crimes etc Serious crimes can never be eliminated from any job entirely.

The key issue for me is whether the Norweigan royals used the institution to cover up Marius' assaults.

Very suspicious...

I am also following the Marius trial (which is ongoing) and there seems to be a clear pattern of coercive control, massive substance abuse and mental health problems.

It's unclear to me exactly what the Norwegian royal family did/didn't know as TBH they haven't featured much at all in the case apart from an instance in evidence today where it is clear they were informed that an arrest warrant had been issued and the police were on their way. But unlike AMW, Marius did not have royal security but mixed with a hard partying set of influencers/media types.

The whole thing is very messy in some ways as many of the victims speak very sympathetically about him, worry about him and have remained in contact with him (in breach of a restraining order) until the weekend before the trial started which is the reason he has been held in prison since the trial started.

He will definitely be found guilty as he has plead guilty to many of the charges - but not the most serious charges.

Thank you, that's very informative.
I really hope the family did not cover this up. I do think it is a bit unfair to say as some pps said that this immediately discredits ALL the Norweigan royals Andrew-style.
I DO think it raises serious questions about Haakon & Mette-Marit specifically though.

According to Wiki : 'Høiby was born on 13 January 1997 at Aker University Hospital in Oslo[12] to Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, then a waitress, and Morten Borg.[13] His parents were not in a committed relationship 'but after a short affair, Mette-Marit became pregmsnt. A few months after Marius was born, Mette-Marit entered into a relationship with a "life artist"[16] In 1998, Mette-Marit ended this relationship and raised Marius with her new partner, until the couple separated a little under a year later in early 1999.[16][14]' (she met Haakon after this)
So Marius is Prince Haakon's stepson, and was never an official royal.
There is other worrying info though : Høiby has invited members of the Hells Angels criminal gang to events at his home at which Mette-Marit received his guests. Drugs were consumed.[39][40]As of 2025, Høiby does not have a diplomatic passport. In 2024, media stated that he had abused the privilege of holding a diplomatic passport.[42]
And this : In 2024, Mette-Marit had been accused by media, of evidence tampering in the government's case against Marius; ][76]
Mette-Marit has been accused of warning her son about his impending arrest and witness tampering.[78][79]
Høiby is referenced several times in the Epstein files in conversations between his mother and Jeffrey Epstein. When he was 15, his mother and Epstein discussed pictures of naked women she wanted to give him.[80][81]

It sounds to me like Mette-Marit & Haakon may well have committed suspicious actions at the very least (and the Epstein mention!). The rest of the family - will knows? It is unlucky Haakon is the heir- if I were Norweigan I would probably be a Republican if the choice were this couple...

Sorry, I know this isn't the main thread topic. These articles about the Norweigan royals are interesting to compare to ours though: many similarities. Unfortunately, the actions of Haakon, Mette-Marit & Martha-Louise ( married a dodgy US shaman, though she's left now) may have doomed it.

https://www.nrk.no/norge/naer-fire-av-ti-har-fatt-et-mer-negativt-syn-pa-kongehuset-1.17013994

https://www.nettavisen.no/kjendis/flertallet-av-nettavisens-lesere-tror-monarkiet-star-for-fall/s/5-95-2139835

https://www.nettavisen.no/okonomi/marius-saken-republikanere-far-vind-i-seilene/s/5-95-2139666

I think there are enough comparisons that it might be useful to have a thread to discuss them.

I agree : I think there may be one ..if not, I'll start one

Regarding the Labour Together issue I've mentioned a couple of times on thes threads (in relation to freedom of speech) - Josh Simons resigned as minister last Saturday
https://archive.is/Ejd4l

I've revived this one :

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/5213127-mette-marits-stepson-arrested-for-rape

According to @PrayForMyBum's schedule Caroline Graham is due to finish giving evidence today.

Any news?

Katie Nichol's turn today:

Mail royal journalist denies ‘nonsense’ hacking claims and says stories came from sources in Prince Harry’s inner circle - AOL

Many thanks 🙏

Thank you @CraftyGin, more of the same as we have been saying all along.

The more articles report celebrities confidently asserting their circles don't leak, the less believable that claim sounds.

I wonder if any of Harry's mates are worried about being outed here.

Telegraph version of today's proceedings:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/c4bf14aa0e3ef8c8

Oh that doesn’t look good for Katie when taking about the name Susie in her notebook.
I wouldn’t think to confuse Susie and Sadie

I agree that there were arguably ‘leaky circles’.

Outwith the legal arguments, and what Harry has done in Spare: what on earth was the point in reporting that SF had been pregnant and had had a termination? Where was the public interest in this?

Thanks @CraftyGin

Archive link AOL https://archive.is/uEAyF

Archive link Telegraph https://archive.is/519GU

I may be misremembering - did one of the other journalists receive information from Sharon Feinstein as well?

ETA Another inclusion of a story that wasn't published ...
Payment records show Feinstein was paid £1,000 for the story, which was never published.
Mr Sherborne accused her of trying to persuade Frost to confirm she had been pregnant because she needed a “legitimate” source for the story, which was never published.

Nicholl suggested the name “Susie” written in the margin of her notebook might actually have been “Sadie”.

This is where the limitation of reporting comes in - we can't see the documents or hear the questions, just what's reported.

My handwriting is messy, especially if I'm making notes just for myself. I could imagine someone else saying that a name was Susie, and having to clarify that it was probably Sadie.

ETA Not saying that's what's happened here, but could be one possible explanation.

Regardless of how the information was obtained, referring to the ending of (a non viable) ectopic pregnancy as a termination is pretty low. I appreciate that it doesn’t equal UIG but it’s very grubby.

Well, the article wasn't written, so the only person referring to it in that way is SF (and her legal team).

She has alleged that the “highly intimate and sensitive” details of her pregnancy and termination in 2003 could only have been obtained from doctors.