Published: March 31, 2026, 06:09
United Kingdom: Harry and other British celebrities take on the ‘Daily Mail’
These complainants, including Elton John and actress Elizabeth Hurley, accuse the ‘Daily Mail’ of obtaining information about them illegally.
The lawyers of Prince Harry and six other personalities are claiming ‘substantial’ damages from the publishing company of the ‘Daily Mail’, with the trial for invasion of privacy before the High Court of London set to conclude on Tuesday.
These complainants, which also include Elton John and actress Elizabeth Hurley, accuse Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), owner of the ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘Mail on Sunday’, of obtaining information about them illegally, including through private detectives.
They have delivered testimonies often filled with emotion during this trial that started over two months ago, accusing tabloids of eavesdropping on private conversations or lying to obtain medical information.
“It is requested that the Court grant substantial damages (…) to each of the complainants for the abusive use of information of a private nature concerning them,” stated the lawyers in their final written submissions.
This is the latest trial brought against tabloids by Harry, the younger son of Charles III, who has been waging a legal crusade against the powerful British scandal press for several years.
Monstrous
Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children, holds the paparazzi responsible for the death of his mother Diana in 1997 in Paris. He has also accused the press of harassment towards Meghan.
In court in January, on the verge of tears, he accused the tabloids of making his wife’s life “absolutely unbearable.” He also described how the intrusions of newspapers into his private life made him “extremely paranoid.”
Harry, 41, stepped back from the royal family in 2020 and relocated to the United States.
British actress Liz Hurley also broke down in tears, accusing tabloids of placing microphones on the windows of her house, denouncing “monstrous” behavior.
Elton John also let his anger out, criticizing the “odious” intrusions into his private life by these publications, accused, among other things, of accessing medical data surrounding the birth of his son Zachary.
The trial is expected to conclude after the final pleadings. The judge’s decision is likely to be delivered in writing at a later date.
By the rules
The complainants’ lawyer, David Sherborne, stated on Monday that the journalists of the ‘Daily Mail’ heard in court could not explain how they had obtained the exclusive information in their articles.
Prince Harry and the other complainants insist that their close ones would never have disclosed the private information revealed in a series of articles published between 2000 and 2015.
ANL strongly denies any illegal behavior on its part, stating that its journalists used legitimate means and sources of information.
The chief reporter of the ‘Daily Mail’, Sam Greenhill, dismissed the accusations of phone hacking in court as “absolute nonsense.”
Another journalist, Barbara Jones, assured that she personally found information about Harry’s former girlfriend and did not, nor needed to, use a private detective.
But American private detective Dan Portley-Hanks admitted to having worked for the ‘Daily Mail’ on topics related to Prince Harry. “I know I did illegal things concerning him, but I don’t remember exactly what,” he wrote in a statement.
ANL maintained that there was no evidence of “these so-called confessions.”
(AFP)
