Prince Harry 'has been targeted by publishers of The Sun and News of the World since he was nine'

Prince Harry’s lawyers claim he has experienced “overwhelming intrusions” into his private life since he was nine years old.

The High Court heard on Thursday that this may have been due to illegal activities by the publishers of the now-defunct News of the World, with Meghan also being targeted.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), claiming that its publications, The Sun and News of the World, committed a “range of unlawful conduct” over a three-decade period.

The company denies the charges and a trial is scheduled for January.

this Duke of SussexHis team previously told the court that NGN unlawfully collected information between 1996 and 2011, including details of his interactions with family members and ex-partner Chelsy Davy.

But in court documents for Thursday’s hearing, lawyer David Sherborne said several articles published by The Sun and News of the World from 1994 to 2016 showed the extent of illegal activity. evidence.

Harry’s team has applied to have the new information added to the duke’s legal challenge.

Some of the articles were allegedly from NGN, which illegally intercepted the phone calls of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince Charles, as well as his current wife Camilla.

Mr Sherborne said an article – which he claimed was the result of illegal activity and published when the duke was 10 – contained “relevant comments about his welfare… his relationship with his mother… and her mental state.” information”.

Those in power at NGN, including former News of the World editor Piers Morgan, are said to have “knew of,” “encouraged” and “concealed” the activity.

‘Megan targeted’

This allegedly continued until 2016, when two articles were published about the early days of Harry and Meghan’s relationship.

“It is said that in 2016 the defendant instructed one of its regular private investigators in the United States to conduct an investigation,” Mr Sherborne told the court.

“We say what he did was obtain private information in the form of a report… about the Duke of Sussex’s then new girlfriend Meghan Markle to obtain new information about their relationship for publication in The Sun .”

The report allegedly contained the Duchess’s mobile phone number and Social Security number, which were illegally obtained with NGN’s “full knowledge”.

New case details

Judge Fancourt previously told Harry he could not pursue the NGN phone hacking charge but could proceed with his wider case about illegal information gathering.

But Sherburn said the evidence of phone hacking was “clear evidence” of illegal information being collected through other means.

Lawyers for NGN had previously told the court that the new information was “designed to grab headlines” and that updating the case was “completely unnecessary”.

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Anthony Hudson KC, representing the publisher, said the Duke’s latest case was “completely different in nature to the claims currently being made”.

He added: “NGN must conduct a broad investigation into entirely new allegations involving new periods and different individuals, journalists, information, alleged conduct, forms of misconduct and/or reasons for action.”

An NGN spokesman said the latest claims were a “vulgar and cynical attack” on current and former staff and should be “viewed with considerable caution”.

Judge Fancourt is expected to rule after Friday’s hearing on whether the new information can be included.