Prince Harry’s latest legal case in Britain is set to begin on Monday in London’s High Court.
The prince and several other high-profile figures are accusing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of The Daily Mail, of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking, and of intruding into their private lives.
The trial is set to last for more than two months, and Harry is scheduled to testify on Thursday. The other claimants include Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, the actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, a former British government minister, and a racial justice campaigner.
Here’s what to know.
What is the case against Associated Newspapers?
Harry and the other claimants accuse the company of carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities to reveal private information about their lives for articles published from 1997 to 2015.
Written arguments presented at a preliminary hearing in May said there had been “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering by private investigators” hired by Associated Newspapers, with “payments spanning decades” and involvement by newspaper executives and numerous journalists.
The private investigators are accused of hacking and tapping phones, placing listening devices in cars and “blagging” — a way of tricking people into handing over information — to obtain phone numbers, personal records and bills.
What has Associated Newspapers said?
The newspaper group, which owns The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and several other titles that are not implicated in the case, has denied all the accusations.
At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, four days before the trial was to start, a lawyer for Associated Newspapers, Anthony White, said he would argue that some of the claimants’ witnesses “are not telling the truth” and that he would raise questions about their credibility.
Associated Newspapers said in a statement that its journalists had not commissioned or obtained information derived from illegal activity and called the accusations “preposterous and without foundation.”
It added, “The stories concerned, many of which were published 20 or more years ago, and not subject to any complaint at the time, were the product of responsible journalism based on legitimate sources.”
When are Prince Harry and others set to testify?
According to a schedule jointly drawn up by both legal teams, the trial will run for more than two months and end on March 26. The judge hearing the case, Matthew Nicklin, is expected to consider the evidence and arguments before giving a ruling at a later date.
The case will begin with lawyers for the claimants and Associated Newspapers giving an outline of their case. Prince Harry is expected to give evidence in person at the High Court on Thursday.
Elton John, the other claimants and witnesses, including Ms. Frost’s former husband, the actor Jude Law, are also set to be questioned by lawyers.
The private investigators accused of wrongdoing will appear at the trial, as will the former editor of The Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, and several past and present Associated Newspapers executives and journalists.
What happened in Prince Harry’s other cases?
This case is one of several pursued by Harry since 2020, when he and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from their royal roles and left Britain, later making their home in Montecito, Calif.
Many have centered on accusations of press intrusion, which Harry said was a key reason behind their decision to move. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Harry said that he feared “history repeating itself,” referring to the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash while she was being chased by paparazzi in Paris in 1997.
He said there was an “invisible contract” between Britain’s royal family and the country’s tabloids, adding, “There is a level of control by fear that has existed for generations.”
The owners of The Daily Mirror, another tabloid, settled a claim over phone hacking in February 2024. During that case, Harry became the first senior royal to testify in court since 1891.
In January 2025, Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers agreed to pay a “substantial” amount of damages to Harry to settle a long-running lawsuit relating to articles in The Sun and the long-closed News of the World. News Group apologized for “serious intrusion” into Harry’s personal life between 1996 and 2011 and admitted for the first time to unlawful activities by private investigators working for The Sun.
Harry lost an unrelated legal battle last May over his publicly funded security in Britain, which was downgraded after his decision to step back from royal duties.
But late last year, the government body responsible for royal security decisions began a review of his protection arrangements, according to two people familiar with the situation who were not given permission to speak publicly. The review appears to offer a glimmer of good news for the prince, who has spoken of his desire to visit Britain with his family if his automatic right to security is reinstated.
Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.
The post What to Know About Prince Harry’s Case Against Daily Mail Publisher appeared first on New York Times.
