Prince Harry Arrives At London’s High Court For Phone Tapping And Privacy Case

Prince Harry has unexpectedly arrived at London’s High Court as a privacy case against The Daily Mail publisher Associated Press gets underway today.

Somewhat ironically given the nature of his appearance, the Duke of Sussex was surrounded by reporters and photographers as he made his way to the High Court’s front gates.

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The treatment of Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, was one of the key themes of their Netflix doc series Harry & Meghan and his autobiography, Spare. The fact he has chosen to attend in person today shows how seriously the royal is taking this week’s hearings.

Harry is one of several high profile claimants accusing The Daily Mail of several privacy breaches, including phone tapping.

Others include Elton John and his husband David Furnish, The Royals and Austin Powers actress Liz Hurley, filmmaker and actress Sadie Frost and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack in 1993.

Associated Press denies the claims and is seeking to get the case dismissed this week during four days of hearings, at the end of which a judge will rule if it can go further.

According to Sky News, the accusations include hiring private investigators to place listening devices in people’s homes and cars, recording of phone calls, payment of police officers for sensitive information, impersonation to obtain medical records by deception and accessing of bank accounts and other financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation.

Associated Press calls the claims “preposterous smears.”

The UK’s newspapers have a shady history with unlawful information gathering. Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World closed in 2011 after a phone hacking scandal, while the Daily Mirror has faced waves of claims over the conduct of its journalists. Harry is separately claiming against the Mail on Sunday and Mirror Group Newspapers.

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