Prince Harry stunned the British and international media this morning when he showed up at a High Court in London. No one knew he had flown into London, and there were zero leaks from Montecito, nor were there any leaks from Buckingham Palace. It’s especially notable that there were no palace leaks, because… the palace is now briefing the Telegraph that Harry did contact his father, King Charles, and tell him that he was flying in for this. There’s no word on when Harry called his father or informed the palace of his plans. Also, I have a hard time believing that the palace sat on that information and didn’t leak it to their media friends. Something tells me their media friends will be quite upset about it too.

The Duke of Sussex has arrived at the High Court in London for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering. The publisher is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

The Duke has flown from California to London especially for the hearing, the Telegraph understands. Arriving at court this morning, the Duke smiled at the press and bumped into a photographer as he walked into the building.

The hearing was due to coincide with the King’s state visit to France before the trip was cancelled on Friday due to ongoing civil unrest and violence over President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms.

The Duke’s presence in court will undoubtedly draw attention to the case and may have overshadowed the visit, had it gone ahead. The King will begin a three-day state visit to Germany on Wednesday.

The Duke is not expected to see his father while he is in the UK. Although he did inform the King that he would be in London he was told his father was “busy”.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children are not in London as it is half term.

[From The Telegraph]

LMAOoooo “The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children are not in London as it is half term.” The Sussexes did this last year too – they made a surprise appearance in Windsor to see QEII while Peg and Buttons were on vacation. Charles was surprised by their visit last year too, and he rushed over to see them. Now, all that being said, this was not Harry’s timing choice, this was a High Court hearing determined by the judge and the lawyers. It’s magnificent though – imagine how amazing it would have been if we had images of Harry arriving at the High Court alongside of Charles in Paris, surrounded by protesters and fire.

Which brings me to another question… why is Charles too busy to see his son? President Macron suddenly canceled King Charles’s France visit last Friday, so Charles has nothing but time between now and Wednesday. He truly has an empty schedule! So, the palace briefing the Telegraph about Charles being “too busy” to see Harry means that Harry already told his dad that he (Harry) is too busy, right?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.