Prince Harry made an unexpected appearance at London’s High Court as proceedings began in the case against Associated Newspapers. Image source: Northern Ireland Office via Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)
Prince Harry made an unexpected appearance at London’s High Court as legal proceedings began in the case launched by several high-profile names against Associated Newspapers, the publisher responsible for The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday publications.
Among the claimants are Prince Harry, Elton John and husband David Furnis, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, Former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a teen murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993.
The claimants were not required to appear at the high court, however, Prince Harry arrived with the intent to turn the public’s attention toward the hearing.
The claimants allege that Associated Newspapers engaged in unlawful information gathering, including serious breaches of privacy such as breaking and entering into private property, recording private phone conversations and hiring private investigators to bug homes and cars.
Representing the claimants is Attorney David Sherborne, who said in court documents that the intrusions were “habitual and widespread” and “concealed and covered up” by the publisher and those acting on their behalf.
“They were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Mail On Sunday,” said Sherbone.
The allegations claim that the publisher’s unlawful conduct dates back as far as 1993 and continues beyond 2018.
Associated Newspapers vehemently denies the accusations, and has motioned for the case to be thrown out, stating that the claims are too old to be brought forward now.
According to the publisher, these claims rely on information that was turned over in confidentiality during a 2012 probe into media lawbreaking.
In the lawsuit, Harry writes that the conduct of the press was “a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana.”
This isn’t the first time Prince Harry has spoken out against the press, and it’s unlikely to be the last –the Duke of Sussex has been vocal in his push to reform the British media.
Prince Harry has already brought forward lawsuits against other major UK publishers, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers.
In 2021, Meghan Markle won a case against Associated Newspapers regarding the unlawful publication of a letter she wrote to her father.
However, the couple has dismissed claims that they intend to sue the creators of adult cartoon South Park over the release of an episode parodying them.
The episode, titled The Worldwide Privacy Tour, featured – and made light of – characters resembling Harry and Meghan, but the couple’s spokesperson shot down the rumours of an impending lawsuit.
“It’s all frankly nonsense. Totally baseless, boring reports.”
