Prince Harry News Segment Interrupted by 'Incredible Cat Cameo'

News coverage of the first day of Prince Harry's legal trial against a British tabloid newspaper publisher was unexpectedly interrupted on Monday morning.

BBC presenter Sally Bundock was interviewing a guest about Harry's forthcoming appearance at London's High Court, in a segment on the channel's flagship news program, when a pet cat made a brief appearance that was quickly picked up by social media users.

The cat was wrestled out of shot by its owner as the interview carried on and Bundock continued with her line of questioning without referencing the bizarre episode.

Posting a clip of the interaction to Twitter, British TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan labeled the moment an "incredible cat cameo." It has now been viewed over 50,000 times on the platform.

"The way the presenter carries on," he wrote. "The way the contributor doesn't fluster. Just amazing scenes all round."

"The speed at which she grabs the cat makes me think it's probably done this before when she is being interviewed," posted another Twitter user, with a further joking: "Tabloids getting inventive with their undercover reporters."

Prince Harry is due to make history on Tuesday as the first senior royal to give evidence in a legal trial for over 130 years, forming part of his lawsuit against tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), whose titles include the Daily Mirror and Sunday People.

The prince has supplied 140 articles to the court published between 1996 and 2011 by MGN titles, the source material for which he claims were obtained illegally. The unlawful information-gathering techniques that were allegedly used against the prince include phone hacking, something the publisher resolutely denies.

Harry's case was brought together with a number of other high-profile figures and was among four selected as a sample in preliminary hearings to proceed to trial.

The prince has been outspoken in his desire to hold the media to account for what he says was the publication of stories obtained unlawfully and the harassment faced at the hands of journalists and investigators on their behalf.

The last senior royal to appear in the witness box was Harry's great-great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII, who made two court appearances during his time as Prince of Wales. In 1870 the royal was called to give evidence as part of a society divorce suit that caused a scandal, to the severe disapproval of the prince's mother, Queen Victoria.

He was again called to court in 1891 as part of a society slander case in which a member of a card game at which the prince was present was accused of cheating.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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