Prince Harry appears at High Court in phone-tapping case against Daily Mail
Prince Harry has arrived at the High Court in London today in the latest step of his ongoing battle against sections of the British media.
The Duke of Sussex is one of seven high-profile figures taking legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail over alleged unlawful information-gathering at its titles.
The group, including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), saying they were “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy".
The publisher has described the allegations, which include bugging the celebrities’ homes and cars, as “unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence”.
A four-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London begins on Monday, which will include ANL’s bid for the claims to be dismissed without a trial.
Harry’s appearance in court today was unexpected and is part of the duke’s stated ambition of making it his “life’s work” to change the UK media landscape.
The lawsuit is just one of three the Duke of Sussex has launched against British newspapers that are currently in the spotlight ahead of his father King Charles's coronation on 6 May.
Yahoo breaks down what the legal action is about and why it's happening now.
Why is Prince Harry suing The Daily Mail's publishers?
Harry and the other claimants are suing the publishers of the Daily Mail — ANL — over a series of allegations of unlawful activity that they claim the paper has done to them.
They allege ANL hired private investigators to put secret listening devices in their homes and cars and impersonated individuals to gain access to confidential medical information about them.
Other allegations include that people were paid to listen in on live telephone calls and record them, that bank accounts and other financial information were "accessed through illicit means and manipulation" — according to the Guardian — and that police officers were paid for private information. These officers are also alleged by the claimants to have had links to private investigators.
The publisher denies the allegations and has previously described them as “preposterous smears” and a “pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal”.
Which other celebrities are involved in the legal action?
Harry isn't the only big name involved in the suit. He is joined by Elton John — a friend of his later mother Diana's — and his husband David Furnish. Actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley are also claimants.
Sir Simon Hughes — former MP and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party — is also named as a claimant.
Baroness Doreen Lawrence, campaigner on police reform and founder of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, is also part of the action.
Is Harry suing any other newspapers?
Harry is also suing ANL over an article about separate legal proceedings he has launched against the Home Office regarding security arrangements for his family when they are in the UK.
The Mail on Sunday article in question was published in February 2022 and headlined: "Exclusive: How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret… then – just minutes after the story broke – his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute.”
It alleged Harry had tried to keep secret details of his legal fight to reinstate his police protection after stepping back as a senior royal in 2020, and that his aides had then tried to put a positive spin on it.
Last year, a judge ruled parts of the article were defamatory and likely to mislead readers.
During a hearing last week, ANL contested the claim arguing the article expressed an “honest opinion” and did not cause “serious harm” to his reputation. They said Harry's case was "built on sand”. The case is ongoing.
The other legal action Harry is currently involved in with the British media is against Mirror Group Newspapers, and relates to historic allegations of phone hacking and "unlawful information" gathering.
This lawsuit will go to trial in May and is expected to last around seven weeks, with the potential for Harry to give evidence.
He is not the only claimant in that trial either, with other parties like TV presenter Ian Wright and the estate of late singer George Michael also alleging they were targeted by phone hacking.
MGN is contesting the claims, arguing that some have been brought too late.
Harry versus the media
In an interview with ITV in January promoting his controversial memoir Spare, Harry said changing the media landscape in the UK was going to be his “life’s work”.
The sheer number of legal cases the Sussexes’ have launch against newspapers is an indication of how much they are willing to stay true to their word.
“One of the reasons I am moving the mission of changing the media landscape in the UK from being personal to my life’s work, a large part of that is down to the ongoing legal battles – specifically with phone-hacking,” he told Tom Bradby.
Harry went on to accuse the tabloid press of deliberately covering him in a negative way as a form of retaliation and said his father, King Charles had warned him against taking on the British media, calling it a “suicide mission”.
In his memoir, Harry details his feelings that the media contributed to the death of his mother in 1997, and the suicide of his ex-girlfriend Caroline Flack in 2020.
Flack’s death was, Harry wrote, served as a reminder that he and his wife Meghan had made the right decision in stepping back as working royals to preserve their mental health.
“I told myself it was an important reminder. I wasn’t being over-dramatic, I wasn’t warning about things that would never happen. What Meg and I were dealing with was indeed a question of life and death.”
Watch: The Royal Family's biggest spending sprees
