Prince Harry Appears in High Court for Newspaper Lawsuit

Facts

• On Sunday, Prince Harry unexpectedly appeared at the High Court as he and other celebrities incudling Sir Elton John, Sadie Frost, and Liz Hurley begin their lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), which publishes the UK's newspapers Daily Mail and the Mail.¹
• The plaintiffs allege ANL hired private investigators to plant listening devices in homes and cars and record private calls, paid corrupt police officials to obtain inside information, engaged in impersonation and deception to obtain medical records, and hacked bank accounts.²
• The lawsuit, which also includes Elton John's husband, David Furnish, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, began with a four-day preliminary hearing Monday. ANL has called the allegations "unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence."³
• The plaintiff's lawyer, David Sherborne, who successfully represented Coleen Rooney at last year's so-called Wagatha Christie trial, said the alleged misconduct took place through 2018.¹
• ANL has asked the judge to strike the claims, arguing they occurred up to 30 years ago, with the law requiring claims to be made within six years.⁴

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²CNN, ³Express, and ⁴ Daily Mail.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by US News & World Report. ANL subsidiaries have long settled privacy violation claims, but this case going to court shows the importance of these allegations. For decades, The Daily Mail and its sister publications ordered people to break into private property and use spyware to illegally invade the privacy of the plaintiffs. No one is allowed to commit such egregious acts, not even journalists.
• Narrative B, as provided by Sky News. These allegations, which took place as far back as 1993, involve stories that the public has widely known for over a decade at least. For celebrities to complain about their dirty laundry being aired is ridiculous and should not be taken seriously in court 30 years after the fact.