Harry and others’ claims against Daily Mail publisher dismissed

Britain’s Prince Harry, Elton John and Doreen Lawrence’s claims against the Daily Mail’s publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering have been dismissed by a UK High Court judge.

A group of household names alleged acts including voicemail interception, landline tapping and obtaining information by deception – also known as “blagging”, carried out by private investigators, freelance journalists and staff at Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

ANL strongly denied the claims as it defended the cases, which it also said had been brought too late.

In a decision on Tuesday, judge Mr Justice Nicklin said that none of the group of seven had proven the allegations of unlawful information gathering.

He said in the 436-page ruling: “For the reasons given in this judgment, each of the claimants’ claims is dismissed.”

The decision comes after Harry returned to the UK on Monday evening ahead of five days of appearances in London and Birmingham, including marking the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games.

Harry will not stay at Buckingham Palace during his return, with his spokesman saying on Monday that it was “disappointing” the offer from Britain’s King Charles had been “withdrawn at the last moment”, with the looming judgment given as the reason.

He is said to have acted in good faith throughout the process, spending most of last week making alternative arrangements before formally accepting the offer for himself – for a single night.

Private conversations are said to have taken place between the duke and his father.

Harry and his team are understood to be frustrated the reasons given for the withdrawal of the offer shifted from not accepting the accommodation to the forthcoming judgment.

Dozens of people gave evidence during the trial in London, including Harry, the rest of the group of household names of Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost and Simon Hughes, as well as many current or former ANL journalists and executives.

During around two hours of cross-examination in January, Harry said he could not complain about some of the 14 articles in his case at the time “because of the institution I was in”.

He also said in his written evidence that “knowingly false” information was added to stories to “put me off the scent”, to conceal unlawful methods, including voicemail interception.

As part of its defence, ANL said that Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists provide a “compelling account of a pattern of legitimate sourcing of articles”, including friends and “leaky” social circles, press officers and spokespersons, as well as previous reporting, freelance journalists and stories from other newspapers and news agencies.

The trial also heard arguments over whether the cases were brought in time as the law states that legal action related to unlawful information-gathering must be launched within six years of someone discovering they could have a claim.