Prince Harry back in UK court for battle with Daily Mail publisher

It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom,” he said, via Sky News. Harry claims that the newspaper libeled him when it suggested that the prince lied in his initial public statements about the suit against the government. Allies of Britain’s royal family are pushing back against claims made by Prince Harry in his new memoir. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have been asked to vacate their home in Britain, suggesting a further fraying of ties with the royal family amid preparations for the coronation of his father, King Charles III.
Several journalists were convicted, and Murdoch's company paid millions in damages to dozens of hacking victims. Harry’s trip to the UK is the first time he has been in the country since the release of his memoir Spare and his Netflix TV series, both of which spectacularly lifted the lid on his life as a royal. In his memoir, he detailed how he was attacked by William during an argument in 2019. Harry - King Charles' son, who with his wife Meghan stepped down from royal duties two years ago - says the Mail on Sunday published an "unremittingly negative" article about his ongoing case against the Home Office. Prince Harry has won the first stage of a libel suit against the publisher of Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Marks his first public appearance there since last September, when he and Meghan attended the funeral and other events to mark the death of Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, made an unexpected appearance in a United Kingdom courtroom on Monday. No specifics were read out in court as sensitive information was kept out of public hearing, BBC News reports. In a skeleton argument obtained by Insider, Harry's legal team wrote that the prince was "not informed about the composition of Ravec," and that he had been told it was an independent committee. His legal team added in the skeleton argument that he was therefore denied the opportunity to "comment on the appropriateness" of "certain individuals" being involved in the decision-making process.
Other plaintiffs include actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, as well as Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence, whose 1993 murder was heavily covered by the British press. The alleged activity ran from 1993 to 2011, “even continuing beyond until 2018,” the lawyers said. Harry has sued his homeland’s government for not providing enough security for him to feel safe coming to the UK. “Absolutely nobody was expecting this because really there is no need for Prince Harry to be appearing in court this week,” said Sky News correspondent Katie Spencer, one of the reporters at court Monday. “It would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters,” attorney Adrian Beltrami said in writing. Articles were falsely attributed to “friends,” a family source, palace sources, royal insider, or similar unnamed individuals to throw subjects “off the scent” of the true origin, Sherborne said.

"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," the publisher said in its statement. Prince Harryreturned to a London court Tuesday for a second day of hearings to see if the phone hacking lawsuit he brought with Elton John and other celebrities can withstand a challenge from the publisher of The Daily Mail. The publisher denies the allegations and said the claims are too old to be brought and information about the phone hacking scandal was so widely known the subjects could have sued years ago. The accusers allege they were victims of “numerous unlawful acts” carried out by the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, including phone hacking and “even commissioning the breaking and entry into private property,” according to extracts of submissions made to the court.
The hearing will not require oral evidence, making Harry’s appearance at court even more unusual. Despite the ongoing legal battle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to visit the U.K. In June, they traveled there with their children, Archie Harrison, 3, and  Lilibet "Lili" Diana, 13 months, forQueen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebration. Their daughter celebrated her first birthday during the trip, her first in the country. Harry and Meghan, who are often seen with bodyguards in public, and the Royal family have not disclosed what security arrangements were granted to the family.
In court filings seen by Newsweek on Monday, Harry says the techniques used by ANL titles to obtain information on him left him suspicious and paranoid of those around him. The prince believed at the time that people in his inner circle were selling stories about his private life. The co-claimants say the publisher has based stories on illegal information-gathering techniques such as phone-hacking, wiretapping, blagging and bugging. Addressing claims brought by the Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John and others, the publisher said it rejected “in their entirety” that they were victims of unlawful or illegal information gathering carried out on its behalf.

"Those categorical denials were believed by a number of individuals who bring claims," he told the court on the fourth and final day of the preliminary hearing, adding only recent discoveries had turned their suspicions into grounds for action. Judge Timothy Fancourt ruled on Wednesday that Harry's case, which alleges unlawful information gathering on behalf of MGN journalists between 1996 and 2011, should be part of the trial. "When Diana died, she didn't have police protection. She had a private security team at that point," said Victoria Murphy, ABC News royal contributor. "And I think it's very clear that Prince Harry feels that the police protection is superior and that that is what he wants for his family."
The couple then returned with their children in June to celebrate the queen's Platinum Jubilee, their first known trip to the U.K. At the time, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures made a decision that security would be granted on a case-by-case basis. The taxpayer cost of the legal battle has reportedly been revealed following an information request by the Sun to the Royal and VIP Executive Committee­. The Home Office has stated that the taxpayer should not foot the bill for  the litigation and has committed to recovering legal costs from Harry if he is unsuccessful in his court case. Prince Harry said that he has offered to pay for any Metropolitan Police security himself whenever he spends time in the UK. Indeed, earlier this year a spokesman for the duke confirmed that he did not want to impose on the taxpayers.
In court documents released on Monday, Harry claims his brother William was among the targets of a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for both Mail newspapers in 2005 and 2006. “Other newspaper groups emphatically denied phone hacking or any unlawful information gathering, but have had to pay millions in damages and costs,” Heffer said. None of the claimants are expected to speak during the four-day hearing, according to a press release from Hamlins, one of the law firms involved. She now says she feels betrayed by the publisher after being informed of allegations it tasked private investigators to tap her phones and monitor her bank accounts, with Sherborne saying it amounted to "nothing short of gaslighting".