LONDON—A landmark legal battle commenced Monday in London’s High Court as Prince Harry and Sir Elton John joined five other prominent figures in a sweeping lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. The plaintiffs allege systematic privacy violations spanning 25 years, from 1993 to 2018, including illegal voicemail interception, phone tapping, and deceptive information gathering practices.
In emotionally charged court submissions, Prince Harry described becoming “paranoid beyond belief” due to what his legal team characterized as “repeated, sustained and covert acquisition of private information” through 14 separate articles. The Duke of Sussex asserted these violations created “massive strain” on personal relationships, generating widespread “distrust and suspicion” in his life.
Meanwhile, Sir Elton John and husband David Furnish expressed feeling “violated” upon discovering the alleged intrusion into medical details surrounding their son Zachary’s birth, including the theft of his birth certificate. The couple described profound outrage at what they perceived as a breach of their family’s safety and security.
The claimants allege ANL employed more than a dozen private investigators—many implicated in previous phone hacking lawsuits—to conduct unlawful vehicle checks, access confidential flight information, and obtain bank details through impersonation tactics known as “blagging.” They further accuse the publisher of orchestrating a cover-up through “mass destruction” of incriminating records.
ANL vigorously denied all allegations, dismissing them as “lurid” and “preposterous” in written arguments. Defense lawyer Antony White indicated that editors, desk heads, and journalists would testify to reject claims of “habitual and widespread” unlawful practices within the organization.
This case represents Prince Harry’s third and final legal action against British newspaper publishers, which he has described as his personal “mission” for the greater good. The royal previously made history in 2023 by becoming the first senior royal to testify in court in over a century during his successful hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers.
Other high-profile claimants include actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, politician-turned-campaigner Simon Hughes, and Doreen Lawrence—the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993. All seven plaintiffs were present in court or monitoring proceedings remotely, with testimonies scheduled through early February.