*Lawrence, the Duke of Sussex and Elton John all turned up to hear legal arguments in the cases they have brought against Associated Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.
Along with actors Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, and the former Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes, they accuse the titles of making widespread use of illegal reporting tactics to obtain stories over more than 20 years.
At Monday’s preliminary hearing in central London, lawyers for Associated Newspapers attempted to stop the claims from going to trial, where the allegations would be heard in full.
At the end of proceedings Prince Harry – who had sat at the back of the court making notes – headed straight to warmly greet Lawrence, engaging the Labour peer in conversation and chatting as they headed out of the courtroom together.
Until now the Daily Mail has largely escaped the phone-hacking allegations that led to the closure of the News of the World but the newspaper now faces a major challenge that could result in serious reputational damage.
The allegations relate to a period when the Daily Mail was edited by Paul Dacre, who remains a senior executive at Associated Newspapers and has been nominated for a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours.
On Monday Associated successfully invoked the Human Rights Act to stop other media outlets identifying 73 of its journalists who are named in the court proceedings.
Its lawyers said publishing the names would breach the journalists’ right to a fair trial under the Human Rights Act.
David Sherborne, representing Harry and other claimants at the high court, noted it was surprising to see a newspaper that has campaigned for press freedom object to the publication of the names.*
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/27/doreen-lawrence-claims-daily-mail-hired-investigators-to-hack-her-phone