LONDON, March 31 — Prince Harry’s legal team demanded a UK tabloid publisher pay him “substantial” damages for invading his privacy as a lengthy High Court civil trial is set to wrap up Tuesday.
King Charles’s estranged younger son Harry, pop star Elton John, and actor Elizabeth Hurley are among the seven public figures suing the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday publisher for allegedly unlawfully gathering intimate information to feed their papers.
The High Court trial has lasted for nine weeks, with emotional testimonies from the claimants accusing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) of different methods to spy on them, including using private investigators to place listening devices in cars and homes.
During an emotional day in the witness box in January, Harry accused the publisher of making his wife Meghan’s life “an absolute misery” and said he was made to feel “paranoid beyond belief” by the alleged practices.
He and his co-claimants accuse the newspapers of authorising unlawful practices such as accessing private phone conversations and blagging – impersonating individuals to obtain medical information.
“The court is invited to make a substantial award of damages, including aggravated damages, in respect of each of the (claimants) for misuse of their private information,” lawyers said in their closing statement.
“The unlawful acts were carried out by a range of characters: professional private investigators, some individuals who acted also as freelance journalists, and the defendant’s journalists themselves.”
It is the third, and set to be final, case brought by the Duke of Sussex in his acrimonious legal battle with the British press.
Harry has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi.
The ANL hearing is set to draw to a close after the closing statements, with the judge likely to give a decision at a later date.
‘Everything by the book’
Prince Harry and the other claimants insisted their inner circles would not have divulged the private details published by The Mail in articles between 2000 and 2015.
They accuse the tabloids of unlawfully obtaining that information.
David Sherborne, representing the claimants, accused the newspapers on Monday of “extensive use of private investigators”.
Sherborne said the Daily Mail journalists who testified in court “couldn’t explain away the exclusive information in the stories”.
The publisher has strongly denied wrongdoing, insisting their journalists relied on lawful means and worked hard to build up sources of information.
Daily Mail chief reporter Sam Greenhill told the court that allegations of phone tapping were “absolute bollocks”.
Another journalist Barbara Jones said she found information about the prince’s former girlfriend on her own, and “did not use, and had no need to use” a private investigator.
Jones said she had done “everything by the book”.
But Dan Portley-Hanks, an American private investigator, said he recalled working for The Mail in relation to Prince Harry.
“I know that I did unlawful stuff on him, but I cannot recall what exactly,” he said in a written witness statement.
‘Monstrous’
Harry, 41, stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and later relocated to California with Meghan amid a bitter royal family rift.
The couple, who have two children, have long complained about media intrusion and Meghan’s treatment by Britain’s newspapers after years of negative stories.
British actor Liz Hurley also broke down in tears in court while testifying, accusing ANL of “monstrous” conduct including planting secret microphones in her home’s window.
Rocket Man singer, Elton John, was also furious during his testimony by video-link, accusing the papers of “abhorrent” privacy invasions including accessing his family’s medical records. — AFP
