Prince Harry’s lawyers urge ‘substantial damages’ from UK tabloids

Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex makes a ‘V’ peace sign as he walks with security upon arrival at the the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in central London, on April 8, 2025. Picture: Justin Tallis / AFP Prince Harry’s legal team demanded a UK tabloid publisher pay him “substantial” damages for invading his privacy as a lengthy High Court civil trial was wrapping up Tuesday. King Charles’s estranged younger son Harry, pop star Elton John, and actor Elizabeth Hurley are among the seven public figures suing the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday publisher for allegedly unlawfully gathering intimate information to feed their papers.

The High Court trial has lasted for nine weeks, with strong testimonies from the claimants accusing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) of different methods to spy on them, including using private investigators to place listening devices in cars and homes. During an emotional day in the witness box in January, Harry accused the publisher of making his wife Meghan’s life “an absolute misery” and said he was made to feel “paranoid beyond belief” by the alleged practices. He and his co-claimants accuse the newspapers of authorising unlawful practices such as accessing private phone conversations and blagging — impersonating individuals to obtain medical information.

The publisher has strongly denied wrongdoing, insisting their journalists relied on lawful means and worked hard to build up sources of information. “The court is invited to make a substantial award of damages, including aggravated damages, in respect of each of the (claimants) for misuse of their private information,” lawyers representing the group said in the closing statement. “The unlawful acts were carried out by a range of characters: professional private investigators, some individuals who acted also as freelance journalists, and the defendant’s journalists themselves.” It is the third, and set to be final, case brought by the Duke of Sussex in his acrimonious legal battle with the British press.

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Harry has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi. Defence lawyers on Monday and Tuesday argued there was no “wide practice” of unlawful information gathering at the newspapers.

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