Prince Harry, Elton John, and five other public figures were victims of widespread phone hacking and other unlawful acts by Britain’s Daily Mail, with the complicity of executives and senior journalists, their lawyer told a UK court on Monday.
The claimants accuse the Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, of violating their privacy from 1993 until 2011 and beyond, marking one of the UK’s most high-profile civil cases in years.
Harry, 41, arriving at court smiling and waving, said in a witness submission that it was “disturbing to feel that my every move, thought or feeling was being tracked and monitored just for the Mail to make money out of it.”
Associated Newspapers described the claims as “preposterous smears” and part of a coordinated conspiracy by a wealthy group motivated by personal animosity towards the media.
Over nine weeks, Harry, John, and the other claimants including John’s husband David Furnish, actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, anti-racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence, and former lawmaker Simon Hughes will argue that private investigators instructed by the Mail unlawfully obtained material about them.
Their lawyer, David Sherborne, said practices included hacking voicemail messages, bugging landlines, and obtaining private information by deception, known as “blagging.” He added, “There was clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering at both the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.”
Among those accused were managing editors and senior journalists, including current editors of the Mail on Sunday and Sun newspapers. Examples included discovering precise travel plans of Harry’s former girlfriend Chelsy Davy and reporting on “private and intimate conversations” between Harry and Prince William about statements regarding images of their deceased mother, according to court documents.
Harry described the intrusion as “terrifying” for loved ones and said it caused a “massive strain” on personal relationships, referencing 14 published newspaper stories forming the basis of his case.
Associated’s titles had not been previously embroiled in the phone hacking scandal that affected the British press for two decades. The publisher denies wrongdoing and questions the credibility of former private detectives’ evidence, claiming that “the allegation that these practices were ‘habitual and widespread’ at Associated’s titles was simply untrue.”
Judge Matthew Nicklin’s decision will determine reputations and legal costs potentially running into tens of millions of dollars.
For Harry, the trial represents the final instalment of his legal fight against the British tabloids. He previously successfully sued Mirror Group Newspapers and secured an apology from Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm.
Prince Harry is scheduled to give evidence on Thursday, becoming the first British royal to appear in a witness box in 130 years.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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