Millions of dollars are at stake as Prince Harry returns to court on Monday for the third and final round of his legal battle against the British tabloids. The Duke of Sussex is the lead plaintiff in a case involving several celebrities, including Elton John, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost. They accuse the publisher of Daily Mail of violating their privacy by using illegal methods to spy on them and obtain sensational information. They claim that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hired private investigators to plant microphones in their cars, obtain their private files, and listen to their phone conversations. The publisher denies these accusations and calls them"absurd".
The trial, which is taking place at the High Court in London, is expected to last nine weeks. Harry will return to the witness stand for the second time since 2023, when he became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in over a century. Upon arrival, he greeted reporters with a smile and a " Good morning " by entering through a side entrance.
The wiretapping scandal
This case is part of a vast scandal involving the illegal interception of voicemails that rocked the British press in the early 2000s. Harry had already won a judgment in 2023 against the Daily Mirror for "widespread and repeated phone tapping". Last year, Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid issued an unprecedented apology and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle another privacy lawsuit.
Prince Harry claims his actions go beyond mere headlines. He holds the press responsible for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi. He also accuses them of harassing his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to the point of driving them to leave the royal family and move to the United States in 2020.
What if Harry took this opportunity to repair family ties? ?
One of the challenges for Prince Harry is trying to repair strained relations with his family since his escape to America and the publication of his explosive memoir Save in 2023, as well as the release of a Netflix series addressing his family conflicts.
His relationship with his father, King Charles III, appears to have improved slightly after their tea meeting last autumn. But a true reconciliation remains unlikely. Harry's visit to London is expected to be limited to the start of the trial and his initial testimony, while Charles remains in Scotland.
These events date back to 1993.
The case against the Daily MailThe lawsuit, filed in 2022, has already resulted in several contentious hearings. The newspaper's lawyers had requested its dismissal, arguing that some complaints, dating back to 1993, were time-barred. But Judge Matthew Nicklin ruled that the case had "real chances of success".
At the same time, he ruled that certain confidential documents could not be used by Harry and the other plaintiffs. Harry's lawyers, however, subsequently obtained permission from the British government to use them.
A detective with contradictory statements
A private investigator, whose name appeared on a sworn affidavit supporting Harry and the other celebrities, later denied spying on them. He had claimed to have carried out "hundreds of missions" for the Mail: between 2000 and 2005, but then signed another declaration stating that he had never been involved in illegal activities. The impact of these contradictions on the case remains uncertain.
Other plaintiffs include anti-racism activist Doreen Lawrence and former politician Simon Hughes.
