According to reports, Prince Harry had “become conscious of compelling and distressing evidence that they were the victims of abhorrent crimes and gross breaches in privacy” by Associated Newspapers Limited.
Britain’s Prince Harry and singer Elton John are among six public figures suing the publisher of the Daily Mail over alleged unlawful information-gathering at its titles.
Other participants in the legal action include actresses Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost, John’s husband David Furnish, and Doreen Lawrence. Lawrence is the mother of Stephen Lawrence’s murder victim, according to the domestic PA news agency in a report.
According to Hamlins’ statement, the six were “aware of compelling and distressing evidence” that they were victims of criminal activity and gross privacy breaches by Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
ANL, publisher of The Mail On Sunday, and MailOnline, denied the allegations on Thursday.
Lawrence, whose child was killed in a racially-motivated attack on south London in 1993, had also filed a claim to Rupert Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers. He is the publisher of many titles including The Sun (now defunct News Of The World).
While the exact details of this claim remain unknown, it is understood that they relate to misuses of private information.
Hamlins’ statement on the legal action against ANL stated that private investigators were employed to secretly place listening equipment inside cars and houses, as well as recording private phone conversations.
It was also claimed that payments were made for sensitive information to police “with corrupt connections to private investigators”, that medical information was obtained by deception, and that financial and bank accounts were accessed through “illicit means and manipulation”.
Harry and Frost are represented at Hamlins by Hamlins. The other claimants, however, are represented at Gunnercooke.
In the aftermath of Britain’s phone hacking scandal, there have been many damages claims for unlawful newspaper activity.
The Murdoch-owned News of the World was closed.
Although the majority of these claims have been resolved, this is ANL’s first claim.
News Group Newspapers, (NGN), settled claims related to The News Of The World. They never admitted to any liability over claims in relation to The Sun.
Mirror Group Newspapers has settled claims regarding its titles, including The People (MGN) and The Sunday Mirror.
Both publishers are currently facing more claims, and they have made recent attempts to bring an end to the long-running litigation.
A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers said that the company “utterly and unambiguously” refuted “these preposterous smears” which “appear to be nothing more then a pre-planned, orchestrated attempt to drag Mail titles into the phone hacking scam concerning articles up 30 years old.
“These unsubstantiated, highly defamatory claims are based upon no credible evidence. They appear to be just a fishing expedition of claimants and their attorneys, some of which have already pursued cases elsewhere.”
