Prince Harry v Associated Newspapers: Everything you need to know about the Duke of Sussex’s latest court case | Ents & Arts News
On Monday, Prince Harry will go to court accusing the editor of The Daily Mail newspaper of phone tapping and other privacy violations.
The 38-year-old king brings the action along with others including actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, Elton John’s husband and filmmaker David Furnish and Clarendon OBE’s Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
It is the latest of several cases brought against the tabloids by the Duke and the tabloids Duchess of Sussex in recent years, and this is just one of several cases Prince Harry is currently involved in.
Here’s everything you need to know about the case.
Who is involved?
The Duke of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd case is taking place in the High Court in London and is expected to last four days.
While Prince Harry is one of the main protagonists, as a class trial he is not the only plaintiff.
Other participants include Doreen Lawrence, mother of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993, Sir Elton John and his husband, filmmaker David Furnish, and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost.
The Hamlins law firm is representing Prince Harry and Sadie Frost, while the Gunnercooke law firm is representing Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish.
Attorney David Sherborne – who previously represented victims of phone hacking in the Leveson Inquiry – is representing all plaintiffs.
Who are Associated Newspapers?
Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), one of the UK’s largest media publishers, publishes the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.
The publisher has petitioned the court to block public access to the case and restrict the details of publicly available content.
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What is claimed?
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they were alerted to “extremely disturbing” evidence showing they had been victims of “heinous criminal activity” and “gross invasions of privacy” at the hands of Associated Newspapers.
The allegations include:
• Hiring private investigators to covertly place listening devices in people’s cars and homes
• Enlisting individuals to covertly eavesdrop on and record private live telephone conversations of individuals as they take place
• Paying police officers with corrupt ties to private investigators for confidential inside information
• The impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics and treatment centers through deception
• Accessing bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through unauthorized means and manipulation
The Associated Newspapers has firmly denied the allegations, calling them “absurd slanders” and claiming the legal action taken was “a fishing expedition by [the] plaintiffs and their attorneys”.
What was the Leveson investigation and why is it relevant?
2011 judge Sir Brian Leveson led a public inquiry after it was revealed that News Of The World journalists had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
The first part of the Leveson inquiry, originally planned to be conducted in two sections, looked at the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Celebrities involved included Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller, Steve Coogan and Charlotte Church.
During the investigation, Paul Dacre, who was editor of the Daily Mail between 1992 and 2018 and is now editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers, “unequivocally” condemned “the hacking of phones and payments to the police,” saying “such practices are disgraceful and have been.” shocked and embarrassed us all.”
He said: “They must be purged from journalism and reforms must be put in place to prevent such criminal activity from ever happening again.”
Associated Newspapers’ attorney at the time, Jonathan Caplan, told the inquest that “so far [Associated] is aware that no Associated Newspapers journalist was involved in the phone hacking.
“It does not bribe police officers and specifically condemns the shameful practice of hacking the cellphones of crime victims or their families.”
Part two of the Leveson Inquiry was supposed to examine the relationship between journalists and the police but never took place. There have since been calls for the ongoing investigation to be reopened, with activists including those of the Hacked Off campaign saying cases like this show wrongdoing is still taking place in some newspapers.
Who else will Prince Harry bring to justice?
This isn’t the only legal battle Prince Harry is facing.
The king has one ongoing defamation lawsuit against Associated Newspapers via an article about his safety precautions in the Mail on Sunday. According to the newspaper, the article was based on an “honest opinion”. He has a separate litigation with the Home Office over the same protection issues.
be in May Lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN)the editor of the Daily Mirror, is on trial over allegations of phone hacking between 1996 and 2011.
Other celebrities implicated in the case include former Girls Aloud bandmate Cheryl, actor Ricky Tomlinson, ex-footballer and TV presenter Ian Wright and estate of the late singer George Michael. MGN has disputed the claims, arguing that some were made too late.
Prince Harry is also suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers (as well as the now-defunct News of the World) over alleged phone hacking. The Sun has always denied phone hacking at the newspaper and the publisher has not admitted any wrongdoing at the title.
Why is Prince Harry doing this?
Prince Harry’s hatred of the British tabloids is well documented – he wrote about it extensively in his memoir Spare and spoke about it in numerous resulting television interviews.
He has said he blames the paparazzi for the role they played in his mother’s death and has vented his frustration at the “unfairness” that no one was called following the investigation into the car crash that killed her was sent to prison.
He has also said that media intrusion was one of the reasons he and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to America.
Just this year, Prince Harry accused members of his family of going to bed with the devil – the tabloids – to sully him and his wife Meghan in order to improve their own reputations.
He has described changing Britain’s “media landscape” and making it more accountable for its actions as his “life’s work”. With a high profile and deep pockets, it’s a mission he’s started in earnest.
It remains to be seen whether the in-depth interviews, insightful memoir, and now numerous court cases will aid Prince Harry in his crusade against the media, or simply stoke the fire he is so keen to extinguish.