Why Prince Harry and six other celebs are suing major media company

Prince Harry is among a number of big names who are part of a case lodged against the Daily Mail newspaper, alleging several 'gross breaches of privacy'.

It has been a difficult few years for the royal, who has recently been undergoing a couple of legal battles, with one attempting to keep his police protection for his family.

In January, Harry won his case against The Sun’s publisher, which agreed to pay ‘substantial damages’ and apologised for the unlawful intrusion into his life.

News Group Newspapers (NGN) was alleged to have used unlawful techniques to dig into his life and apologised for the intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011. It also confirmed ‘incidents of unlawful activity’ were carried out by private investigators.

But Harry’s legal battle with the media isn’t over yet, and this time he’s joined by a slew of other celebs.

Prince Harry is suing a major media company (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

What is the Daily Mail accused of?

Prince Harry is suing the Daily Mail newspaper over alleged unlawful information gathering, which was first brought to court in 2022.

The claimants allege to have been victims of 'abhorrent criminal activity' and 'gross breaches of privacy' by the publisher.

Associated Newspapers (ANL), which publishes The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, has strongly denied the claims that it used private investigators to collect information in an illegal way to fuel its stories.

While the trial is set to take place at London's High Court in January, the pre-trial hearing is happening today (26 November).

The suit alleges that between the years of 1993 to 2011, the publisher hired private investigators to bug cars and homes with listening devices and also bribe police officials for information.

It has also been accused of commissioning people to listen and record people's live, private telephone calls, impersonating individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and centres, accessing bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions and more.

However, Associated Newspapers denies the allegations - which it called 'preposterous smears' - and has claimed the celebrities have led ‘a fishing expedition’.

Sir Elton John is also a claimant (Victor Boyko/Getty Images for Valentino)

In 2023, ANL asked for the case to be thrown out

During a preliminary hearing in March 2023, ANL asked for the case to be thrown out, arguing that the allegations had been brought to court ‘far too late’ and that they fall outside of the statute of limitations, which states claims should be brought against a plaintiff within six years of the crime occurring.

They also argued some parts of the case breached orders made by Lord Justice Leveson as part of his infamous 2011 inquiry into the media.

Judge Matthew Nicklin ended up allowing the case to continue, stating that ANL had ‘not been able to deliver a “knockout blow” to the claims of any of these claimants’.

Elizabeth Hurley has been named as a claimant (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

Who else is involved in the Daily Mail case?

Prince Harry is a major component of the suit, but there are quite a few more people who have claimed they have been the victims of the same crime.

This includes:

• Elizabeth Hurley
• Sadie Frost
• Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish
• Baroness Doreen Lawrence, who is the mother of Stephen Lawrence
• Former Lib Dem politician Sir Simon Hughes