Prince Harry has been in court in London as a lawyer representing a collection of British tabloids prepares to seek the judge to dismiss the prince’s, Elton John’s, and other celebrities’ claims that claim phone tapping and other privacy intrusions.
The Duke of Sussex has filed multiple cases against the media, and Harry’s attendance at the High Court in London is evidence of the significance he places on the case. Four days are predicted for the hearing.
According to the lawsuit, Associated Newspapers Ltd, a publisher of publications including the Daily Mail, ordered the “breaking and entry into private property,” as well as other illegal activities like hiring private detectives to bug homes and cars and record private phone calls.
In a court declaration, attorney David Sherborne stated that the clients “were the victims 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.”
Along with Sadie Frost, who was present in court, and David Furnish, Sadie’s husband, are also plaintiffs.
The Duke of Sussex listened in on the preliminary proceedings from a seat at the back of the court while taking notes.
According to Sherborne, the allegations go back to 1993 and continue now.
The publisher claimed that the allegations are too old to be brought up at this time and that they should also be dismissed because they are based on data that newspapers provided in confidence for an investigation into media law violations in 2012.
Adrian Beltrami, an attorney, wrote in a letter, “It would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters.”
Following disclosures in 2011 that News of the World tabloid employees had eavesdropped on the voicemails of celebrities, politicians, and a teenage murder victim on their mobile phones, Britain conducted a year-long inquiry into press ethics.
Rupert Murdoch, the newspaper’s owner, closed it down in the midst of a police probe and public outcry. Murdoch’s firm paid millions in damages to dozens of hacking victims, and some journalists were found guilty.
Lord Justice Brian Leveson wrote in the findings from the inquiry’s 2012 hearing that “outrageous” press behavior had “wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people whose rights and liberties have been disdained.”
As the present eavesdropping case is being heard by Judge Matthew Nicklin, he is simultaneously in charge of a separate libel action that Harry filed against Associated Newspapers because of a story regarding his request for police protection while he and his family are visiting the UK.
The younger son of King Charles III, Harry, and his wife, former actress Meghan Markle, resigned from their positions as working royals in 2020 and relocated to the US, citing what they called the intolerable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.
Harry has stated that he intends to dedicate his life to changing the British media. Throughout his book, Spare, which was released in January, he is enraged by the UK media.
In addition to accusing the media of hounding Meghan, he blamed an overly aggressive press for the loss of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.
To fight what they perceive to be media harassment, the couple has turned to British courts. Meghan won a privacy invasion lawsuit against Associated Newspapers in December 2021 because the Mail on Sunday published a letter she addressed to her divorced father.
In a second hacking lawsuit, Harry is also suing the owner of the Mirror, a different tabloid.