Prince Harry’s legal action against the publisher of The Sun newspaper, over allegations of unlawful information gathering, is due to begin today.

The Duke of Sussex is one of two claimants, alongside former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, who are continuing their claims against News Group Newspapers (NGN).

NGN has always denied unlawful activity at The Sun.

The claim is separate to the phone hacking case Harry brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which was heard by the High Court in 2023.

The court ruled that phone hacking was carried out by MGN journalists from 1996 to 2011, and was “widespread and habitual” from 1998.

The newspaper publisher agreed last year to pay “a substantial additional sum” in damages to the duke, as well as his legal costs – on top of the £140,600 already awarded to him by judges.

So how is this trial different, and what can we expect to happen in court?

Who is involved?

Prince Harry and Lord Watson are the only two claimants going forward with legal action against the publisher.

The court was told back in November that 39 cases have been settled since a hearing last July.

This includes actor Hugh Grant, actress Sienna Miller, ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, comic Catherine Tate and Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm.

Harry told a New York Times summit at the end of last year that one of the main reasons he was pursuing the case was because the others “had to settle”.

Other names you may hear in court are David Sherborne, the lawyer representing Harry, and Mr Justice Fancourt, the judge presiding over the case.

Who are News Group Newspapers?

NGN publishes The Sun newspaper and used to publish the now-defunct News Of The World, which closed in 2011.

It is a subsidiary company of News UK, which is owned by News Corp, the corporation owned by Rupert Murdoch.

News UK also owns papers including The Times and The Sunday Times, but they are published by a different subsidiary company.

In 2011, NGN issued an unreserved apology for widespread phone hacking carried out by journalists at the News of the World which Mr Murdoch shut down.

The publisher has since paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World, and settled claims brought by more than 1,300 people.

But it has always denied any unlawful activity at The Sun, and the upcoming trial will be the first to examine specific allegations against the paper, which was previously edited by Rebekah Brooks, who is now chief of News UK.

What are the allegations?

Harry alleges that he was unlawfully targeted by journalists and private investigators working for NGN.

The court ruling will therefore decide if any of the NGN articles were the product of unlawful information gathering, such as information being tricked or “blagged” out of phone companies by private investigators.

The decision will stop short of ruling over phone hacking allegations, after Harry was denied permission by the court to bring those allegations to trial.

The duke had already lodged civil claims against NGN at the High Court, but in March last year, he sought to amend his case to add new allegations, including that The Sun ordered private investigators to target his then girlfriend – and now wife Meghan – in 2016.

The High Court refused this, ruling that the duke could not add new allegations relating to the years 1994, 1995 and 2016 to his case.

He was also denied permission to pursue allegations against Rupert Murdoch himself, and his argument that there had been a “secret deal” between the publisher and senior royals, was also rejected.

In November last year, the two sides returned to court in London to ask a judge to rule on preliminary issues before the trial began.

Lord Watson was also at the hearing.

Mr Justice Fancourt ruled Harry could use further emails between executives of the publisher of The Sun and members of the royal household that were sent between 2013 and 2019, in his legal claim.

What were the allegations against MGN?

Harry’s court case against the Daily Mirror publisher Mirror Group Newspapers began in May 2023.

He was part of a group litigation that also saw soap stars Nikki Sanderson, Michael Le Vell (Turner), and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse, as claimants.

Together, they accused MGN journalists or private investigators of phone hacking on an “industrial scale” and obtaining private details by deception, and said that senior editors and executives knew and approved of such behaviour.

Phone hacking involves intercepting private voicemail messages on another person’s device. This could be done remotely, and all it required was knowing someone’s mobile number.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Fancourt concluded that phone hacking and unlawful information-gathering techniques such as “blagging” took place at the Mirror Group from 1996 to 2011.

He said it was “widespread and habitual” from 1998, and that its journalists continued to hack phones “to some extent” during the Levison Inquiry into media standards in 2011 and 2012.

The judge concluded Harry’s phone had been hacked “to a modest extent” between 2003 and 2009, and 15 of 33 news articles he complained about were the product of unlawful techniques.

What will happen in court?

The case against The Sun will be heard in the Rolls Building of the High Court. It is due to last for eight to 10 weeks.

It will consider specific claims brought by both Harry and Lord Watson, as well as “generic” allegations of wrongdoing by NGN staff, including editors and other senior figures.

Harry could take to the stand himself, to be cross-examined for four days.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown is also expected to appear in court as a witness.

What has NGN said?

NGN has always denied unlawful activity at The Sun.

A spokesperson for the publisher said ahead of the start of the trial: “His [Harry’s] claim will be fully defended, including on the grounds that it is brought out of time.”

The spokesperson added that Lord Watson had never been a target of hacking, and the allegation that emails had been unlawfully destroyed was “wrong, unsustainable, and is strongly denied”.

ATLANTA — Seven weeks and two days ago, Ohio State coach Ryan Day watched as Michigan planted its flag at midfield inside the Horseshoe, chaos ensuing: fans chanting “F— Ryan Day,” his players both fighting back and walking around dazed, the rival Wolverines celebrating.

Seven weeks and two days ago, what unfolded Monday night felt unimaginable: joy, celebration, triumph, Day right in the middle, the whole of Buckeye Nation now back in his corner.

After that devastating loss to Michigan, the first expanded 12-team College Football Playoff delivered a chance at salvation. And the Buckeyes took advantage from the start, outscoring their four postseason opponents by a combined score of 145-75, culminating with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame for the program’s seventh national championship.

“No great accomplishments are ever achieved without going through adversity,” Day said. “That’s just the truth.” No team has benefited from the College Football Playoff quite like the Buckeyes.

In 2014, they were ranked No. 4 in the inaugural four-team field, beating No. 1 Alabama, then No. 2 Oregon behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones to hoist the first championship trophy of the CFP era.

This year, they were the No. 8 seed in the first 12-team field. The loss to Michigan — Ohio State’s fourth straight in the series — kept them out of the Big Ten title game. And in any previous season, it would have kept them out of the playoff. But thanks to playoff expansion, the Buckeyes made it when the bracket was revealed Dec. 8.

The future still looked bleak.

Speculation swirled around Day and whether his disgruntled fan base could accept another failure in a season built for a national championship run.

A team meeting after the Michigan loss got heated. Feelings were hashed out, grievances aired.

“There’s multiple ways that you can respond to adversity in life, and that adversity brought us closer as an entire group,” receiver Emeka Egbuka said. “We were able to lift each other up in that moment, and we’ve gotten stronger because of it.”

Michigan would be their catalyst.

TWELVE MONTHS AND 12 days ago, cornerback Denzel Burke made sure to watch the 2024 national championship game all the way to the end so he could see rival Michigan hold up the trophy following a 34-13 win over Washington. He had the game on his phone while at dinner with teammate Lathan Ransom and was so hurt, he had to walk into the bathroom to cool off.

There is no fun in losing to your rival; even less fun is watching your rival win the national championship. Michigan beat Ohio State and won it all last season, thanks in part to a veteran group that put off the NFL to return to school to try and win a championship.

Day wanted the same for the Buckeyes in 2024. To get the better of Michigan, Ohio State would have to be like Michigan. Well, at least in one way. With $20 million to spend in NIL, Ohio State went about convincing its top players to return to school, too. Defensive end Jack Sawyer, who grew up in nearby Pickerington, Ohio, as a huge Buckeyes fan, led the charge.

Within short order, he and seven others — defensive end JT Tuimoloau, tailback TreVeyon Henderson, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, defensive tackle Ty Hamilton, offensive lineman Donovan Jackson, Egbuka and Burke — put off the NFL to come back to school for one more year.

“It just kind of fueled our fire a little bit to come back and hoist the national championship trophy,” Burke said. “To be able to see them win it all like that, we wanted a piece of that.”

Player retention and development has been huge: The Buckeyes started 19 players who signed with the school and have combined for more than 520 starts. Many in the signing class of 2021, the foundation for this team, returned because they had contributed nothing to the trophy case inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and refused to let their careers end that way.

“This might be the biggest example of selflessness I have ever been a part of,” linebacker Cody Simon said. “So many guys had the opportunity to go first round, second round in the NFL draft. They all came back to play another year together.

“I commend all those guys who made a decision and all the guys who came in who were outside of our program because it takes a lot to get this all to work together.”

Day signed a top-tier recruiting class, including receiver Jeremiah Smith, and brought in key transfer portal acquisitions — quarterback Will Howard, safety Caleb Downs and running back Quinshon Judkins chief among them. Ohio State would enter 2024 as one of the most talented teams in the country. Expectations were clear from the start.

“At this time last year, which is crazy to think about, guys decided to come back and put their personal goals aside to achieve this goal,” Ransom said. “It’s pretty special. I hate when people say, ‘Win or bust,’ but we did everything to come back to win.”

Day knew he needed something to help his players best understand the journey on which they were about to embark. In their first preseason meeting last year, Day showed the team a picture of a lighthouse in the middle of a storm in the ocean. The lighthouse keeper, he told them, was counting on the lighthouse to be built with the right foundation to withstand the storm.

Then he told the story of three bricklayers building St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the importance of each brick being laid the right way. He told the players that every day after practice, he would hand out a scarlet and gray brick to one player. It would be his job to build a foundation for what was to come. The bricks could not be placed randomly or haphazardly. Building that foundation had to be done the right way.

Every day as players walked out to practice, they had a view of the bricks being stacked. Every day on the way back into the locker room, they had a view of the bricks being stacked. Over 100 bricks are now stacked perfectly, forming a foundational wall. “That wall is built for anything — the fire that we went through, the perseverance that we have, and here we are now,” Burke said.

“Storms are going to come,” Day said. “How is the foundation built? Was it built on a true foundation of rock or of sand? We knew those storms were coming. We didn’t know when, but that was ultimately going to allow us to withstand those storms.”

THE BIGGEST STORM came Nov. 30. The Buckeyes entered their rivalry game against Michigan as a 20.5-point favorite, ranked No. 2 in the CFP and with massive matchup advantages up and down the depth chart.

The Wolverines lost nearly every key offensive player from their 2023 national championship team and were 6-5 under first-year coach Sherrone Moore. Two of their best players were injured for the Ohio State game.

Finally, the Ryan Day Redemption Arc would be written.

Then the game kicked off. Michigan dominated up front, handcuffing Ohio State from doing much. Inexplicably, the Buckeyes could not get the ball to Smith to make enough of a difference, and Ohio State was shut out in the second half at home for the first time in 13 years.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Michigan had won 13-10 in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the rivalry. As the Wolverines planted their flag at midfield, Sawyer came charging up, tearing the Michigan flag down. He could be heard on video screaming, “They’re not f—ing planting the flag again on our field, bro!”

Day stood there silently, seemingly in disbelief. Though he ranks No. 1 among active head coaches in win percentage, Day has been judged by one thing: his record against Michigan. Day has gone 47-1 against all other Big Ten opponents in his career. But what did he do against the Wolverines? To date, he is 1-4. As a result, Ohio State has not won a Big Ten title since the truncated 2020 COVID-19 season, a year in which the rivals did not play.

Vitriol was directed at both Day and his players in the immediate aftermath of this season’s Michigan loss, and sports talk focused on whether Day needed to win the national championship to save his job. Athletic director Ross Bjork tried to quell the speculation when he gave a vote of confidence to Day in December, telling 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, “The season’s not over. The book is not closed.”

In that same interview, Bjork asked his Ohio State fans not to sell their tickets to Tennessee fans for their first-round playoff game in Columbus.

“We knew that we could play better than what we presented,” guard Donovan Jackson said. “So having people tell us we’re trash, terrible, garbage, half of us should transfer, half of us should leave the state of Ohio. No, we know how good we are.”

IN THE FOUR-TEAM CFP era, Ohio State made five playoff appearances and finished ranked No. 5 or 6 three other times. In fact, the Buckeyes ranked in the top seven in every final CFP poll, including No. 7 last year at 11-1. That lone loss to Michigan precluded them from making the four-team field.

The loss to Michigan this year served a far different purpose.

“The new format has allowed our team to grow and build throughout the season, and as much as losses hurt, they really allow us as coaches and players to take a hard look at the issues and get them addressed,” Day said.

The team meeting after the Michigan game got loud and emotional. Fingers were pointed, mistakes were rehashed, but players and Day took accountability. In times of great adversity, either you fold under the pressure or you rise to greatness. Ohio State chose not to break.

“There was no other option for us,” Simon said. “You go from feeling sorry for yourself to now we’ve got to rewrite the history for this season and this team.”

Kickoff against the Vols came on a chilly night at the Shoe, three weeks removed from the Michigan loss. Nobody knew how the Buckeyes would respond.

The nation got its answer two minutes and 14 seconds into the game. Then four minutes later. Then five minutes after that. By the time the first quarter ended, Ohio State had a 21-0 lead as it overwhelmed what had been one of the best defenses in the country, while completely stymying Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and his high-powered offense.

Day said after the 42-17 win, “You could tell from the jump that they had a look in their eyes that they were going to win this game.”

Next up: a rematch with No. 1 Oregon in the CFP quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl. The undefeated Big Ten champion Ducks handed the Buckeyes their first defeat back in October, after Howard lost track of the game clock while trying to drive for a game-winning score, running with four seconds left and sliding as time ran out in the 32-31 loss.

There would be no need for late-game heroics this time around. Once again, Ohio State bulldozed its way to a massive lead, going up 34-0 before winning 41-21. After two rounds, the Buckeyes had harnessed all their talent and potential and were playing like the “championship or bust team” many envisioned when the season began.

There was more to come. Before the semifinal against Texas at the Cotton Bowl, Day had a simple message for his team: “To leave a legacy, become your own legend.”

With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, leave it to the player who dreamed about winning an Ohio State national title as a little boy throwing a football in his backyard with his dad, to do just that.

Sawyer strip-sacked Quinn Ewers on fourth-and-goal from the 8 with 2:13 left, then returned the fumble 83 yards to put the game out of reach and give the Buckeyes a 28-14 win.

The image of Day standing silently next to a riled-up Sawyer after the Michigan game was replaced with the image of Day unclipping his headset and jumping into a giant bear hug from Sawyer on the sideline screaming, “YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” A hug so powerful, it appeared to break a camera the CFP had placed on Sawyer after the play.

“The resiliency of this team, from a month ago, it’s been incredible,” Sawyer said afterward. “I love Columbus. I love the state of Ohio. I love Ohio State football. I’m so fortunate to be playing in the national championship my last year here.”

Just like the semifinal, the national championship game needed a fourth-quarter play to seal the win. This time, it was Smith and his 57-yard reception with 2:29 left that ended any Notre Dame comeback hopes.

Ohio State trailed for the first time in this CFP after the Fighting Irish opened the game with a clock-busting drive that nearly lasted 10 minutes and ended with a Riley Leonard touchdown run.

Then the Buckeyes showed off their wealth of depth and talent during a critical portion of the game — the rest of the first half and start of the second — pulling ahead and proving right those who chose them in the preseason to bring home another national championship. Their offensive line opened up huge holes for Henderson and Judkins while allowing virtually no one to come near Howard. The Notre Dame defense was flummoxed — alternating between man and zone — unable to answer for Judkins nor for a mobile Howard, who was all too eager to take off when the running lanes opened. Ohio State converted all six of its third-down attempts in the first half, and Howard opened the game with 13 straight completions — a record for most completions to start a national championship game.

The Buckeyes raced out to a 28-7 lead after their first series of the third quarter and then held on against an inspired Notre Dame effort. Afterward, a raucous Ohio State crowd chanted Ryan Day’s name as he walked off the field.

They may not be able to call themselves Big Ten champions. They may not have a win over That Team Up North.

But the Buckeyes have something to celebrate that is theirs, and only theirs: the national championship.