Prince Harry and five others sue Daily Mail publisher over unlawful snooping

On 6 October 2022, it was announced that Prince Harry and five other high-profile figures had brought legal claims against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. The other claimants were Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, actor Elizabeth Hurley and actor Sadie Frost.

The group alleged that journalists or people working for the publisher had used unlawful methods to obtain private information over many years. The claims described activities such as hiring private investigators and illegally recording or accessing personal conversations and records. The claimants said they only learned of the alleged conduct recently and brought the cases through the law firm Hausfeld.

Associated Newspapers strongly denied the allegations, calling them baseless and rejecting the accusation that it had commissioned unlawful activity. The case became one of several legal actions in which Prince Harry challenged the British press, following his earlier litigation against other newspaper groups. It mattered because it tested how far the courts would hold major publishers to account for past newsgathering practices, and it led to the long-running legal fight that later reached the question of an appeal.