(London) A British judge on Friday rejected the appeal of the publishing company of the Daily Mail tabloid which was trying to put an end to the proceedings launched by Prince Harry and the singer Elton John, among other personalities, for illegal collection of information.

The judgment handed down by the High Court in London opens the way to a trial in one of the multiple proceedings launched by the youngest son of King Charles III against the British press, which is very harsh against him.

The Duke of Sussex and six other British celebrities have accused Associated Newspaper (ANL) of using illegal methods to ferret out information, such as hiring detectives, wiretapping or impersonating someone. another in order to obtain medical data.

The publisher of the Daily Mail, who completely denies these allegations, asked the judge during a preliminary hearing in March in London not to convene a trial, believing that legal recourse had been introduced “far too late”.

Most of the facts denounced date back to the period 1993-2011, with some dating from 2018.

The youngest son of Charles III has launched a legal battle against several titles of the tabloid press, which he holds responsible for the death of his mother Diana in 1997 in a car accident in Paris, pursued by the paparazzi, and that he accuses of treating his wife Meghan Markle in the same way.

The 39-year-old prince, exiled in the United States after crashing out of the monarchy in 2020, created a surprise by appearing in the public at this hearing, an extremely rare appearance in a court for a member of the royal family.

In June, he came to testify as part of another procedure, this time targeting the Daily Mirror. He then became the second member of the British royal family to take the stand after Edward VII for a libel trial in 1891.