Prince Harry begins £2bn lawsuit against Daily Mail parent company for unlawful info gathering

Prince Harry has arrived at London's High Court for a nine-week trial against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. The Duke of Sussex is jointly suing ANL alongside six other high-profile complainants including Elton John, David Furnish, and Elizabeth Hurley. They accuse ANL of unlawfully gathering information through methods like placing listening devices in cars, 'blagging' medical data, and accessing private phone conversations. ANL denies all allegations, calling them 'lurid' and 'preposterous'.

Harry is set to testify on Thursday in what is his third and final UK newspaper lawsuit. He has long blamed the media for his mother Princess Diana's 1997 death in a Paris car crash while evading paparazzi. This marks his first UK court appearance since settling a £140,600 claim against Mirror Group Newspapers in 2023. A media lawyer noted the case focuses more on 'future media accountability' than past wrongs.

Harry will stay in the UK but has no plans to meet King Charles III during this visit, maintaining the ongoing rift since he and Meghan moved to California in 2020. The trial follows his £ substanital 2025 settlement with Rupert Murdoch's publisher over phone hacking. For Nigerian readers, this highlights global media ethics debates—how should powerful outlets be held accountable for privacy violations?

SOURCE: https://guardian.ng/news/world/europe/harry-arrives-at-london-court-for-battle-against-uk-newspaper/