LONDON (AP) — Millions of dollars are on the line as Prince Harry returned to court on Monday for the third and final chapter in his legal quest to tame the British tabloids.
Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, is the lead litigant in a case full of high-profile plaintiffs who accuse the publisher of the Daily Mail of invading their privacy by using unlawful information-gathering tactics to snoop on them for sensational headlines.
Harry, Elton John and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost are among a group of seven who allege that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hired private investigators to bug their cars, obtain their private records and eavesdrop on phone calls.
The publisher has denied the allegations and called them preposterous.
unlawful tactics.” width=”720″ height=”480″ src=”https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/696e08ba170000c3d8aad04a.jpeg?cache=Gb1uyN4glI&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale”/>Prince Harry arrives at London’s High Court to lead a group, including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, accusing the Daily Mail’s publisher of privacy invasion through unlawful tactics.
via Associated Press
The trial in London’s High Court is expected to last nine weeks and will see the return of Harry to the witness box for the second time since he made history in 2023 by becoming the first senior member of the royal family to testify in more than a century. Harry waved cheerfully at reporters and said “good morning” as he entered the court building via a side entrance.
The prince vs. the publishers
The case was one of many that has emerged from the widespread phone hacking scandal in which some journalists began intercepting voicemail messages around the turn of this century and continued for more than a decade.
Harry won a court judgment in 2023 that condemned the publishers of the Daily Mirror for “widespread and habitual” phone hacking.
Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s flagship U.K. tabloid made an unprecedented apology for intruding on his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.
Harry’s self-proclaimed mission to reform the media is more personal and goes far beyond headlines that attempted to document his party boy youth and romance ups and downs.
He holds the press responsible for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris. He also blames them for persistent attacks on his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, that led them to leave royal life and move to the United States in 2020.
Repairing rift in the royal family
The trial comes as Harry tries to repair a damaged relationship with his family since he moved to America and burned the bridge behind him by penning a scorching 2023 memoir, “Spare,” and airing other family grievances in a Netflix series.
Frosty relations with his father, King Charles III, appear to be thawing a bit after the two met for tea last fall when Harry was last in town.