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Prince Harry and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost have arrived at London’s High Court for the start of a landmark weeks-long privacy case against the publishers of The Daily Mail.
The Prince is one of a number of claimants on a docket that also features Elton John, his husband David Furnish and campaigner Doreen Lawrence.
Harry is not expected to give evidence until Thursday in what could turn out to be one of the most high-profile media court cases of the decade. The group say they are the “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” including the hiring of private investigators. The lawsuit adds that Associated Newspapers commissioned individuals to listen to private telephone calls, paid police officials “with corrupt links to private investigators” for inside information and impersonated individuals to obtain medical records. It alleges bank accounts were accessed “through illicit means and manipulation.
The Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, has said the claims are “preposterous smears which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30 years old.”
Harry arrived at a preliminary hearing nearly three years ago and it was eventually ruled that the case would go to full trial. The Prince has been battling the papers in the courts for years but given some of those who have joined him in the claim, this could be the most high profile. The trial is expected to last several weeks at least.
Harry, who lives in L.A. with wife Meghan Markle, previously took on Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers and received a shock apology and settlement during a week of high drama early last year. A year prior, he was awarded “substantial further damages” in a case against Mirror Group Newspapers, leading to a public spat with his old enemy Piers Morgan.
English (US) ·