(London) Prince Harry appeared outside a London court on Monday as a lawyer for a British tabloid group prepared to ask a judge to dismiss lawsuits brought by the prince, Elton John and several other celebrities who accuse them of wiretapping and other invasions of privacy.
Harry’s presence in the High Court in London is a sign of the importance he attaches to the case, one of several lawsuits the Duke of Sussex has brought against the media. The hearing is expected to last four days.
The lawsuit alleges Associated Newspapers, which publishes newspapers such as the Daily Mail, ordered the “break and enter on private property.” The group is notably accused of hiring private investigators to bug homes and cars and record private telephone conversations.
Attorney David Sherborne argued that these figures had been “victims of numerous unlawful acts committed by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of his newspapers”.
Other plaintiffs include Elton John’s husband David Furnish and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, who were also in court. Prince Harry sat at the back of the room and took notes as lawyers discussed preliminary matters.
The allegations date back to 1993 and continue beyond 2018, David Sherborne said.
The editor argued that the allegations are too old to deal with now and should be dismissed, because they rely on information the newspapers had handed over confidentially for a 2012 investigation into media law violations.
The UK had carried out a year-long investigation into press ethics after revelations in 2011 that employees of the tabloid News of the World had listened to voicemails on cellphones from celebrities, politicians and a teenage murder victim.
In the wake of a criminal investigation and popular outcry, owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the paper. Several journalists were convicted and Mr. Murdoch’s company paid millions of dollars in damages to dozens of hacking victims.
Judge Matthew Nicklin, who will hear the case, is also overseeing a separate libel action brought by Prince Harry against the Associated Newspapers over an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family travel to the UK.
Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, and his wife, former actress Meghan Markle, stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States, citing unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes in the British media.
In his recent autobiography, Harry rants against the British media. He blames them for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997 and accuses them of harassing his wife.
The couple turned to the British courts to denounce the media. In December 2021, Meghan won a privacy invasion case against Associated Newspapers, one of whose newspapers published a letter she wrote to her father.