LONDON — Prince Harry’s third, and perhaps final, major legal showdown with Britain’s tabloid press opened in a London courtroom on Monday with the start of a closely watched trial involving claims of widespread, illegal information-gathering by the company that owns the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The company, Associated Newspapers, is one of Britain’s largest newspaper publishers. Harry, who appeared in court wearing a dark suit and tie, is one of seven plaintiffs in the case who are alleging “habitual and widespread” legal violations, including hiring private investigators to bug phones and plant listening devices in homes and cars; unlawfully obtaining medical records and banking records; and hacking voicemail messages.
David Sherborne, the lawyer representing Harry and the other plaintiffs, said in his opening remarks that he intended to prove that there was “clear, systematic and sustained use” of unlawful activity at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Associated has denied the allegations, calling them “preposterous.”
In its written submission to the court, Associated argued that the allegations were unsupported by credible evidence and that it can explain legitimate sourcing of its articles. The company also contended that the claims should be dismissed because they were brought too late — more than six years after the plaintiffs became aware of an allegation.
In addition to Harry, who is King Charles III’s youngest son, plaintiffs in the case include musician Elton John and his husband, David Furnish; actress and model Elizabeth Hurley; and Doreen Lawrence, whose 18-year-old son, Stephen, was murdered in a racist attack in 1993.
The trial, at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, is expected to last about nine weeks. Harry is expected to testify and face cross-examination later in the week, while Associated is expected to call current and former editorial staff as witnesses to rebut the allegations.
The case marks the latest chapter in Harry’s long-running crusade against Britain’s tabloids. He has said he is on a mission to reform the news media and curb what he views are its excesses. Harry has repeatedly criticized the British news media, arguing that his mother, Princess Diana, was relentlessly harassed, and that his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was vilified by the British press. Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 after being chased by paparazzi.
Harry has secured judgments and settlements against other major publishers. In 2023, Harry became the first senior British royal in more than a century to testify in court, during his case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror. A judge concluded that the prince, also known as the Duke of Sussex, was a victim of “widespread” phone hacking and awarded him £140,600 in damages.
Last year, Harry secured a last-minute settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers. The company apologized for the “serious intrusion” into his private life and Harry reportedly received an eight-figure sum.
A spokesperson for the prince said that there were no additional media-related court cases planned.
In the case that opened Monday, the claimants allege that the illegal information gathering occurred at the Daily Mail and its sister paper, the Mail on Sunday, between 1993 and 2011.
The trial comes amid media reports that the British government is considering whether to reinstate Harry’s full personal security protection while he is in the United Kingdom. The U.K. government is also scrutinizing a high-profile bid by the Daily Mail and General Trust — the parent company of Associated Newspapers — to acquire the Daily Telegraph under competition and media plurality rules.
Harry is not expected to see his father or brother, Prince William, this week, as both have events elsewhere in the U.K. including in Scotland. While relations with William remain strained, there have been signs of a thaw with Charles. Last May, Harry told the BBC he would “love a reconciliation with my family” and Buckingham Palace later confirmed that Harry and his father had a private meeting in September.
Lawrence’s decision to join the case came as a surprise, given the Daily Mail publicly supported her campaign to bring her son’s killers to justice. Lawrence has described being stunned when Harry contacted her and informed her and said that allegedly she had been subject to phone hacking and other illegal information-gathering techniques.
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