By Sheila Mckenzie-
Prince Harry and Sir Elton John are among a group of celebrities suing the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Mail Online.The legal suit claims to have compelling evidence of “gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers”.
- Hiring private investigators to put listening devices in cars and homes
- Commissioning people to secretly bug and record private phone calls
- Paying police officials for sensitive information
- Accessing bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions
- Impersonating people to obtain medical information from hospitals and clinics
Others included in the legal action are Baroness Doreen Lawrence, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, said law firm Hamlins.
“They [the claimants] have banded together to uncover the truth, and to hold the journalists responsible fully accountable, many of whom still hold senior positions of authority and power today,” the law firm added.
Prince Harry successfully sued Associated press in the past after a judge ruling in July that parts of an article in The Mail On Sunday was defamatory.
In 2021, Prince Harry successfully sued associated press over false claims he snubbed the Royal Marines after stepping down as a senior royal.
Court records show three separate lawsuits citing “misuse of private information” which have been filed against Associated in London’s High Court today (Oct. 6) by Gunnercooke on behalf of its clients. Prince Harry and Frost’s lawsuits have yet to appear in court records but Hamlins said that legal action has been launched.
A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers said: “We utterly and unambiguously refute these preposterous smears which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30 years old. These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims – based on no credible evidence – appear to be simply a fishing expedition by claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere.”