Prince Harry – Daily Mail trial live: Duke claims publisher ‘tracks my every move’

The group of household names began legal proceedings against ANL in 2022, with documents naming dozens of journalists, including some national newspaper editors.

In 2023, the ANL failed to dismiss the cases before trial on the grounds that they were “time barred” or filed too late.

Mr Sherborne previously said the alleged illegal conduct in the claim included unlawful interception of voicemails, monitoring of on-site landlines and access to medical records.

“They span from 1993 to 2011 and even into 2018,” he said in a written statement.

Judge Nicklin rejected ANL’s request to dismiss the claim in November 2023, ruling that the publisher had not delivered a “fatal blow” to the claim.

He concluded that each organization had a “real prospect” of proving that ANL had withheld “relevant facts”, which would have enabled them to bring claims against the publisher earlier.

The claim has already seen a number of preliminary hearings, including one in November 2024, which heard Mrs Lawrence had received a text message from Harry “alert” to the potential legal claim.

The Duke of Sussex is one of them seven outstanding people Legal action has been launched against the publisher of the Daily Mail, with a nine-week trial due to begin on Monday.

the group, which including sir elton johnHis husband David Furnish and activist Baroness Doreen Lawrence accused Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) of engaging in or commissioning illegal activity.

Those actions reportedly included hiring private investigators to install listening devices in cars, “leaking” private records and obtaining private phone conversations.

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The trial of legal proceedings brought against Associated Newspapers Ltd by several high-profile figures, including the Duke of Sussex, ended on the same day.

The hearing will continue at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Mail on Sunday reporter Katie Nicholl allegedly obtained medical information about actress Sadie Frost through illegal means, the High Court heard.

David Sherborne, who represents Ms Frost, and six others who are taking legal action against publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd, said the journalist wrote a draft article containing details about Ms Frost “not even known to her sisters or mother”.

He said that in late 2003, Ms Frost had an unexpected ectopic pregnancy with her then-boyfriend Jackson Scott, for which she had to undergo surgery at a private hospital. Mr Sherborne said only Mr Scott and “perhaps her closest friends” knew about the pregnancy.

He added: “All of this was documented by Ms Nicol in a draft of the article.”

The barrister continued: “How would they know she was being treated unless they had access to her voicemail or medical records?”

In a witness statement at the trial, Ms Frost said: “I’m going through a divorce and it’s difficult enough without stories like this coming out.”

Lawyers for Baroness Doreen Lawrence said the illegal collection of information about Baroness Doreen Lawrence was “difficult to understand given what she has been through over the years”.

In a statement read out by her barrister, Mrs Lawrence said: “I was still unprepared when I found out what the Daily Mail and (then Daily Mail crime reporter) Stephen Wright had done to me.”

She continued: “This is a new trauma and injustice for me.”

Mr Sherborne went on to say the alleged illegal conduct was “not only a stain on the Mail’s vaunted legacy” but a “huge and shocking betrayal of Baroness Lawrence”.

In written submissions to ANL, Antony White KC said the allegations against Mr Wright were “entirely denied” and were “not supported by the available evidence”.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence said the alleged illegal collection of information by the publisher of the Daily Mail left her feeling “victimized all over again”.

In a written statement from barrister David Sherborne, the mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence can be seen saying: “I have been victimized again, but the victims are those I considered to be my allies and friends.

“I was forced to fight when all I wanted was to be told the simple truth, served justice and apologized.

“I’m angry that I was forced to fight in court for over three years over something that could have been so simple.

“I’m also angry that the Daily Mail seems more interested in interrogating me about how it discovered what they had done to me, asking for original emails between me and Prince Harry and the name of the lawyer I met at London’s Corinthia Hotel on January 21, 2022, and then threatening to question me about it all at trial, rather than saying it’s sorry, investigating what it did, and getting to the bottom of what happened and who knew about it and authorized it.”

Baroness Doreen Lawrence is “extremely disappointed” by the Daily Mail’s alleged use of illegal information-gathering practices following her son’s murder, her lawyers have told the High Court.

David Sherborne said she was one of the first in the group to make a claim against Associated Newspapers Ltd, publisher of the Daily Mail.

Speaking about the newspaper’s alleged information-gathering methods, he said: “It’s unfortunate for Stephen’s mother, now Baroness Lawrence, that she had to go through this.

“For her, it’s not about the headlines, it’s about finding out what’s going on with her son.

“Her case is that despite pretending to support her and her fight for justice, the Daily Mail has betrayed her.”

Discussing private investigator Gavin Burrows, David Sherborne said there was “a lot of noise” surrounding his involvement.

The court heard in November last year that Mr Burrows claimed to have signed a statement confirming the alleged hack was fake.

Mr Sherborne said Mr Burrows’s account was “lengthy, detailed and demonstrably true” but said the private investigator had since “taken a most unusual turn” by claiming his account was forged.

He said the change in Mr Burrows’ position “went against all the evidence he had given and all the public statements he had made”, meaning he “had to somehow suggest that these signed statements must have been forged”.

Burrows claimed in a 2021 statement that he hacked into voicemails, obtained financial and medical information and tapped landlines for a Mail on Sunday reporter.

Mr Sherborne said Mr Barrows was one of “a large number of private investigators” used by the ANL and the claimants did not rely on his case.

“He was just the original whistleblower,” Mr Sherburn said.

Private detective John Ross was employed by Associated Newspapers Ltd on a number of occasions, the court heard. Court documents describe Mr Ross as a “former corrupt police officer turned private investigator”.

David Sherborne said Mr Ross was exploited in dozens of reports between 2001 and 2011 and obtained information from “corrupt police officers” but there was “no record of his invoices or payments”.

He said this showed Mr Ross received cash payments, including £1,000 for an article titled “Bandits target Queen’s cousin for second time”.

Sherburn said cash payments were “a very obvious way to pay people for illegal items”.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence, whose teenage son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack in 1993, was the target of five illegal articles between 1997 and 2007, a court heard.

David Sherborne said in written submissions: “While lacking any public interest, the UIG (Unlawful Information Gathering) attack against Baroness Lawrence, both when it occurred and when it was concealed, and since her discovery, has had a devastating impact on her and her family.”

Mrs Lawrence said in extracts from evidence given on Monday: “I remember not being able to grieve even for a day the injustice that had happened privately and not being able to prepare my children for the news before the world found out.”