A UK judge has declined to stop proceedings by Prince Harry and Elton John against the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), for alleged illegal data gathering. Friday’s ruling by the High Court in London sets the stage for a trial.
Prince Harry, the younger son of Prince Charles, has initiated multiple lawsuits against some British press outlets, which he accuses of unfair treatment.
Accompanying the Duke of Sussex in levelling these accusations are six other British celebrities, claiming ANL employed illicit strategies to uncover information.
These strategies allegedly include hiring private detectives, phone tapping and masquerading as someone else to gather medical data.
The Daily Mail’s publisher denied the allegations and asked the judge at a preliminary hearing in March in London to avoid a trial, deeming that the lawsuits were filed too late.
Most of the alleged activities reportedly date back to the 1993-2011 period, with a handful as recent as 2018.
Prince Charles’ younger son is waging a legal war against several scandalous press outlets, which he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a 1997 car accident in Paris while she was being purused by paparazzi. He also accuses the media of treating wife, Meghan Markle, in a similar fashion.
The 39-year-old prince, currently residing in the United States after leaving the monarchy in 2020, surprisingly showed up in court for Friday's hearing – a rare occurrence for a member of the British royal family.
