Prince Harry loses lawsuit against Mail publisher over phone-hacking claims
The judge said the seven claimants failed to prove unlawful information gathering after an 11-week trial that cost an estimated 40 million pounds.
- On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, a High Court judge dismissed claims brought by Prince Harry, Elton John, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence against the Daily Mail's publisher, Associated Newspapers Limited, over alleged unlawful information gathering.
- Claimants alleged the publisher utilized illegal methods, including voicemail interception and 'blagging'—a practice of using deception to obtain information—to source articles, which Associated Newspapers Limited strongly denied throughout proceedings.
- In his 436-page ruling, Mr Justice Nicklin stated, "For the reasons given in this judgment, each of the claimants' claims is dismissed," after Associated Newspapers Limited argued it relied on legitimate sources including "leaky" social circles.
- The case, estimated to cost $78 million in legal bills, involved weeks of testimony about private conversations between Harry and Prince William regarding their mother, Princess Diana, and her 1997 death.
- Arguments also addressed whether claims were filed within the six-year statute of limitations for unlawful information-gathering cases, a threshold the High Court found critical to its dismissal decision.
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Harry and other celebrities accused the tabloid newspaper of illegal research methods such as wiretapping and spying.
NOS
Prince Harry has lost the lawsuit against the publisher of tabloids Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. He and six other prominent figures had filed a lawsuit alleging what they call persistent violations of privacy. They accused the papers of having gathered information in various unlawful ways over a period of twenty years, including by wiretapping telephone conversations. They had demanded damages of many millions. In a written judgment of more th…
Prins Harry og secs andre kjendiser har tapt saken mot Daily Mails eierselskap for å ha brukt ulovlige metoder for å få innsyn i privatlivet deres.
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