'Abhorrent': Prince Harry, Elton John, more join lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher

Prince Harry is suing the media in his homeland again — and this time he's got fellow Britons Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost with him.

The Duke of Sussex's latest London solicitor, Hamlins, announced today that Harry is joining a new legal campaign against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, the British tabloids most critical of Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, over the last five years.

Harry and the other celebs, who include John's husband David Furnish, are “the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers,” Hamlins said in a press release sent to USA TODAY Thursday.

The plaintiffs "have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence" that they have been the targets of "unlawful acts" by the tabloids, including allegedly bugging their cars and homes, recording their private phone calls, paying corrupt cops for sensitive information, impersonation to obtain their private medical information, and accessing their bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions.

"It is apparent to these (plaintiffs) that the alleged crimes listed above represent the tip of the iceberg – and that many other innocent people remain unknowing victims of similar terrible and reprehensible covert acts," the Hamlins statement said.

"They have now therefore banded together to uncover the truth, and to hold the journalists responsible fully accountable, many of whom still hold senior positions of authority and power today."

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The Hamlins statement said Harry and the other plaintiffs want to live in a world "where the press operates freely, yet responsibly. A press that represents truth, is sourced in fact and can be trusted to operate ethically and in the interests of the British public."

Hamlins, which specializes in lawsuits against the media, is representing Harry and Frost. Another law firm, gunnercooke, is representing John, Furnish, Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon, the mother of a Black British teenager murdered in a 1993 racist attack in London who was later created a Life Peer by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

If the lawsuit ever goes to court, the barrister for the case will be David Sherborne, who won a major case for Meghan against the Mail on Sunday.

Associated Newspapers issued a fiery statement to USA TODAY saying the publisher "utterly and unambiguously refutes these preposterous smears," which look to be an attempt to include the Mail in the decades-old phone-hacking scandal.

"These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims which – based on no credible evidence – appear to be simply a fishing expedition by (plaintiffs) and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere."

By Friday, the the Daily Mail's online website carried a story about the lawsuit under the headline, "Mail rejects celebrities' claims of intrusion," and featuring Associated Newspapers' lengthy statement.

This latest legal salvo is the fifth by either Harry, 38, or Meghan, 41, against the powerful Associated Newspapers and its Daily Mail, now the largest print and digital media publication in the United Kingdom. The couple and their two children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, are now residents of California, after stepping down as working royals in an acrimonious exit in 2020.

Harry has already won two lawsuits against the Associated Newspapers for libel and slander, with a third pending. The latter involves the Mail's coverage of Harry's efforts to pay the Metropolitan Police for security for his family when they are in the U.K. He won the first stage of the lawsuit in July after a judge ruled that parts of a story about his fight for police protection were defamatory.

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Meghan also sued Associated Newspapers for copyright infringement and breach of privacy after the Mail on Sunday published without her permission a copy of a private letter she wrote her estranged father. She won that lawsuit in February 2021, and the Mail published the court-ordered apology in December after losing an appeal.

In a statement at the time, Meghan called out the Mail on Sunday for "illegal and dehumanizing practices."

"For these outlets, it’s a game," her statement said. "For me and so many others, it’s real life, real relationships, and very real sadness. The damage they have done and continue to do runs deep."

Harry also is one of multiple celebrity plaintiffs in another pending lawsuit he joined in 2019 against different tabloids, including The Sun and The Mirror, over alleged phone hacking when he was a teenager.

Plus, Harry and Meghan also have won lawsuits in the U.S. against two paparazzi agencies they accused of "intrusive" tactics in obtaining pictures of their son.

The Sussexes have become the royals most likely to sue the media, and they've been notably successful when going up against Britain's rowdy tabloids. The couple have accused the tabloids of intrusive and even racist coverage, especially of biracial Meghan, in the years since she met Harry in 2016. The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday have been especially scathing about the couple since the 2020 "Megxit" crisis, two years after they married.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prince Harry, Elton John aim new lawsuit against British tabloids