A landmark legal battle has commenced at the High Court, with the Duke of Sussex and six other high-profile figures pursuing claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. The nine-week trial, which began on Monday, sees the group allege that Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) engaged in or commissioned a campaign of unlawful activities spanning decades.
The Claimants and Their Allegations
The group bringing the action includes Prince Harry, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley. They claim to be victims of what their lawyers describe as "abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy."
The alleged unlawful acts are extensive. The claimants assert that ANL hired private investigators to plant listening devices in cars, illegally accessed private phone conversations, and used deception to obtain confidential records. The activities are said to have occurred from as early as 1993 and continued in some instances until 2018.
In a poignant submission, Prince Harry stated he was "troubled that, through Associated’s unlawful acts, he was largely deprived of important aspects of his teenage years" and has said his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was "absolutely right" in her own phone hacking suspicions. Baroness Lawrence believes the racist murder of her son, Stephen, was "exploited" by the publisher, alleging her bank accounts were monitored and corrupt payments were made to police officers for information.
Key Events in the Legal Timeline
The road to trial has been complex, marked by multiple preliminary hearings and significant rulings.
October 2022: Legal claims were formally issued against ANL, which immediately dismissed them as "preposterous smears."
March 2023: ANL failed in a bid to have the cases thrown out as "stale." At a hearing, Prince Harry made his first believed appearance in the UK since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Barrister David Sherborne outlined claims that Sir Elton John and David Furnish were "outraged" over alleged tapping of their Windsor home landline.
November 2023: In a major victory for the claimants, Mr Justice Nicklin ruled the case could proceed to trial, stating ANL had not delivered a "knockout blow." He found each claimant had a real prospect of proving the publisher concealed facts that prevented earlier legal action.
2024-2025: The case saw further developments, including the government agreeing to release confidential Leveson Inquiry documents—ledger cards recording ANL payments to private investigators—for use in the trial. Dozens of high-profile journalists were named in Prince Harry's claim. The court also heard that Baroness Lawrence was alerted to a potential claim by a text message from Harry.
A central figure became private investigator Gavin Burrows, who provided contradictory statements. In August 2021, he allegedly confessed to targeting "hundreds, possibly thousands" for a Mail on Sunday journalist. By March 2023, he retracted this, and in November 2025 claimed his signature on the earlier statement was a "forgery."
The Publisher's Defence and What Comes Next
Associated Newspapers Limited has "vehemently" and repeatedly denied all allegations, labelling them a "pre-planned and orchestrated" attempt to link the Mail titles to the phone-hacking scandal. Its barristers have argued the claims are "without foundation" and an "affront" to its journalists' integrity.
The publisher scored a partial win in October 2025 when Mr Justice Nicklin refused to add an allegation about the Princess of Wales to the case and ruled that claims of commissioning "burglaries to order" could not proceed. However, the core of the claimants' case has been cleared for trial.
As the nine-week hearing unfolds, the court will examine a vast trove of evidence. The outcome could have profound implications for the British press, the limits of privacy, and the legacy of the Leveson Inquiry. For the seven claimants, it represents a long-awaited opportunity to seek justice for what they allege were severe and sustained invasions of their private lives.
