The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
(Picture: AP)Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Lawrence are among high profile individuals who have launched legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper, alleging phone-tapping and other invasion of privacy, a law firm for the group said on Thursday.
Associated Newspapers Limited, owner of the Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, said it “utterly and unambiguously refuted these preposterous smears”.
A spokesman said they “appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30-years-old”.
Actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost joined Elton John’s partner and filmmaker David Furnish in the case.
Mrs Lawrence is the mother of murdered black student Stephen Lawrence, 18, who was stabbed to death by racist thugs in south London in April 1993.
The Mail, under then editor Paul Dacre, campaigned for many years to bring Stephen’s killers to justice.
Lawyers alleged in a statement to be aware of evidence pointing to breaches of privacy by ANL, including placing listening devices inside people’s cars and homes as well as commissioning the bugging of live, private telephone calls and payments to police. The impersonation of individuals to obtain medical records and accessing bank accounts has also been alleged.
The timeframe of the alleged wrongdoing hasn’t been specified.
Law firm Hamlins is representing The Duke of Sussex, Frost, while Lawrence, Hurley, John and Furnish are being represented by gunnercooke, the statement said.
Harry and wife Meghan’s relations with Britain’s tabloid press collapsed after they got married in 2018.
The couple have previously said they would have “zero engagement” with four major British papers, including the Daily Mail, accusing them of false and invasive coverage.
The couple also cited media intrusion as a major factor in their decision to step down from royal duties and move to the United States.
The Duchess of Sussex, previously brought a successful privacy claim against ANL over articles which reproduced parts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
Meghan was awarded £1 nominal damages, along with an undisclosed sum which she donated to charity, after winning her case.
ANL was also ordered to issue a front-page apology and pay the duchess’s legal costs.
An appeal by ANL was dismissed by senior judges in December last year.
ANL said on Thursday: “These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims - based on no credible evidence - appear to be simply a fishing expedition by claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere.”
