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Prince Harry, singer Elton John and five other famous British figures can file their lawsuit against the publisher of the British newspaper Daily Mail, alleging widespread illegal behavior for collecting information through non-consensual eavesdropping, among other grounds. This was ruled this Friday, November 10, by the High Court in London.
Publisher Associated Newspapers (ANL) had requested a hearing last March to have the case dismissed, arguing that the claims that were filed in October 2022 were outside the six-year deadline for legal action. Harry, the Duke of Sussex and the youngest son of King Charles III, along with singer Elton John and five other plaintiffs, accuse the association, which publishes the English tabloid, of phone hacking and other serious breaches of privacy that they say began 30 years ago. In contrast to the defendants' argument, the plaintiffs' legal team stresses that, at the time, the plaintiffs were not aware that they were in the crosshairs. The ANL, however, has always denied involvement in these illicit practices.
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"I believe that each plaintiff has a real perspective that demonstrates concealment on the part of the Associated that was not discovered prior to October 2016," Judge Matthew Nicklin said in his ruling. However, Nicklin also rules that the seven plaintiffs cannot use as evidence ledgers recording the ANL's payments to private investigators, which were revealed in a public inquiry into press rules that began in 2011, without first obtaining permission from British government ministers.
"While it is a fact that the publication of illegal articles was not concealed, these were, in the case of the plaintiffs, only the tip of the iceberg. What was deliberately concealed from the plaintiffs, if they are correct in their allegations, were the underlying wrongful acts that were allegedly used to obtain information for later publication," the judge added. In this way, Nicklin rejected the publishers' arguments that the entire case should be dismissed because it was filed too late.
Therefore, a hearing will be held on November 21 to consider the outcome of the ruling. "We intend to uncover the truth at trial and hold the members of Associated Newspapers accountable who are fully guilty," Hamlins said in a statement on behalf of Prince Harry, Elton John and his husband, director David Furnish, actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, activist Doreen Lawrence and former minister Simon Hughes.
During the preliminary hearings, some of which were attended by Harry and Elton John, his lawyer, David Sherborne, said his clients had been "misled" by unequivocal denials made in the 2011 public inquiry by senior Associated executives. In their filings, the prince and the other plaintiffs detailed a series of alleged illicit activities by Daily Mail journalists or 19 private investigators who worked for them from 1993 to 2011 and beyond, ranging from taking advantage of their phones to bugging their homes, as well as obtaining medical records through deception. "As we have always made unequivocally clear, the lurid claims made by Prince Harry and others about wiretapping, wiretapping, theft of information and the use of sticky microphones are simply absurd and we hope to establish this in court in due course," said the Associated Press, the media group that owns several British tabloids such as the Daily Mail. MailOnline, TheMail on Sunday or Metro—then in a statement.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives at the High Court in London, March 27, 2023.TOBY MELVILLE (REUTERS)
The phone hacking first came to public attention in 2006, when the royal correspondent and private investigator working for the Sunday tabloid News of the World, part of tycoon Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, were arrested and later convicted for accessing mobile phone voicemails of British royals. Subsequent revelations, made public five years later, forced Murdoch to close the paper and led to the imprisonment of its editor and others. In addition, a public inquiry was opened and they had to pay millions of pounds in damages.
A different judge ruled last July that Prince Harry could continue his lawsuit against Murdoch's conglomerate, which is accused of obtaining confidential details about him through illegal invasions of his privacy. But, the judge in that case said, the wiretapping allegations came too late to be prosecuted. Still, the continuation of that trial is likely to take place in early 2025.
Last June, the Duke of Sussex became the first senior British royal in more than 130-year history to testify in court. It was for his lawsuit against Mirror Group, and soon a verdict could be rendered in that case as well.