A beast in court. An opponent to be feared. A fearless and fearsome cross-examiner with an Eye of Sauron-like focus on client expectations.
These are just some of the phrases used to describe Andrew Green KC, the barrister acting on behalf of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) and the man quickly making headlines for his fierce cross-examination of Prince Harry in his blockbuster legal battle against the newspaper over alleged phone hacking this week.
Harry is suing MGN for damages, claiming reporters at its titles were linked to methods including phone backing, ‘blagging’ or gaining information by deception, and the use of private investigators for unlawful activities. But according to High Court barristers and other legal insiders, Green is seeking to tear the duke’s case “to shreds” as he takes to the witness box today and tomorrow.
With 35 years’ experience at the Bar, Green is “old enough to be experienced but young enough still to be hungry” and is likely to be relishing the opportunity to cross-examine a member of the royal family, says a leading barrister. “He’ll be extremely well-prepared – I expect rather better than Prince Harry reckons he’s going to be.”
So who is exactly is the man taking on Prince Harry and what kind of fireworks can we expect as he takes centre stage over the next couple of days?
A career in cross-examination
“A beast in court. An opponent to be feared, with a punchy and aggressive court style. Particularly at home with cross-examination and an ability to put unruly judges back in their boxes.”
This is just one of the testimonies used to describe Green on the website for his chambers, Blackstone Chambers, where his accolades include being shortlisted for Insurance Silk of the Year in 2022. His experience spans everything from commercial litigation and financial services to sport and media/entertainment.
The so-called “master” cross-examiner was called to the Bar in 1988 and has since gained a high-profile and award-winning reputation as one of the country’s leading Commercial Bar barristers, known for his clever but practical approach, “superb mind” and courage in court.
The Legal 500 describes him as “an outstanding trial advocate” and “a fearless and fearsome cross examiner” who has an “excellent court presence” with an “Eye of Sauron-like focus on client expectations” – no wonder MGN hired him for the job of defending them against a prince.
Our learned friend, Andrew Green KC, is known to be a ‘beast’ in court. He’ll be cross-examining Harry.
— Lady Doi (@lady_doi) June 5, 2023
He’ll wipe the floor with the angry, jet-lagged, arrogant, entitled and doltish Prince. pic.twitter.com/M9JYkKjoDU
So what approach is Green likely to take? Aggressive, but with plenty of charm, if his previous work is anything to go by. Insiders say Green’s “charming manner” makes him “all the more devastating” and that he is a “good modern barrister” who is not a “self-publicist”.
The devil of his defence, they say, will be in the detail. Green is unlikely to cross-examine Harry in a “particularly unpleasant way”; instead, he’ll be looking to expose him as “an unreliable historian” whose arguments can’t be trusted just because he’s a high-profile individual.
“He has quite a conversational tone and I doubt that Prince Harry will see some of the most effective bits coming,” say insiders. “Putting it in cricketing terms, I doubt Prince Harry will realise when he’s edged the ball.”
The defence strategy by Mirror Group lawyer Andrew Green KC appears to be to suggest all stories #PrinceHarrry claims were obtained by UIG (unlawful intelligence gathering) were either
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) June 6, 2023
1. in other publications already
2. confirmed by the palace
3. came from 'confidential sources'
The beast versus the prince
The battle began before Harry had even entered the courtroom, with Green condemning Harry for attending his daughter’s birthday instead of day one in court, saying it was “absolutely extraordinary we were told just last week [Harry] is not available for day one of his own trial.”
“We are deeply troubled by that,” he said. “We have done everything we can to not waste court time. Now we are going to…”.
Today the two men came face-to-face, with Green telling the judge he wanted a day and a half to cross-examine the prince. The judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, agreed that the cross-examination can run into Wednesday.
As insiders had predicted, Green began by turning on the charm. He opened with what commentators have described as a “polite disarming strategy”, saying he appreciated that Harry had had a “lifetime of press intrusion” and apologising unreservedly for the one occasion MGN has accepted that a private investigator was hired to unlawfully gather information about him. He added that Harry would get a further apology if it’s found there were any further breaches.
But Green quickly started to turn up the heat, mildly teasing Harry as the prince was asked to speak up in court, joking “not in anger I hope!”, and telling him sharply “that’s not an answer” before accusing him of being “in the realms of total speculation”.
Duly, he began to turn off the charm-offensive and make his main defence clear: that although Harry was generally upset by press intrusion, he wasn’t able to pinpoint any particular articles that caused this upset because he probably didn’t read many of them at the time. Instead, he has argued that the stories Harry claims were obtained through unlawful intelligence gathering were in fact confirmed by the palace, from “confidential sources” or already in the public domain.
“You are accusing journalists of having been involved in criminal activity,” he told Harry in court. “Does it strike you a little unfair as the information came from another article and with the cooperation of the palace?”
Green also attempted to expose Harry as an unreliable historian, pinpointing some factual inaccuracies in the prince’s argument, such as the fact that Harry did not get a mobile phone until 1998, despite the prince claiming the first newspaper story that came from unlawful phone gathering/hacking was in 1996.
It “couldn’t be from phone hacking,” Green pointed out, to which Harry told him that there was a landline at his school. Recollections, as the Queen once said, may vary. The question now is whether Harry’s recollections of events can withstand the cross-examining of the beast.
