Prince Harry's lawyers have been criticised by Justice Nicklin for attempting to add new allegations against Associated Newspapers Limited. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry's lawyers have been criticised by Justice Nicklin for attempting to add new allegations against Associated Newspapers Limited. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry’s lawyers have been scolded by a judge for trying to add a swathe of new allegations to their legal battle against the Daily Mail’s publisher.
The Duke of Sussex is one of seven claimants, also including Sir Elton John and Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, suing Associated Newspapers Limited(ANL) for alleged privacy breaches dating back up to 30 years.
On Friday, Justice Nicklin, the High Court judge hearing the case, strongly criticised their “unorthodox” approach and suggested lawyers for the claimants had shown a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the scope of the litigation.
He said allegations that ANL had commissioned “burglaries to order” and that Catherine, Princess of Wales, had been targeted by Mail journalists must be removed from their claim.
Justice Nicklin said the claimants could not rely on evidence from phone-hacking cases brought against the Sun and Mirror, stating: “This was different litigation, concerning different allegations, raising different issues, against different defendants.”
He also criticised an attempt to prove widespread unlawful activity at the Mail newspapers, saying it was an “enormous exercise” in “the territory of a public inquiry” and was “not necessary”.
Actress Sadie Frost arrives at the High Court to attend the third day of the preliminary hearing in a privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Photo / Getty Images
The claimants, who also include Sir Simon Hughes, Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost and Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish, have accused ANL of carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records and accessing and recording private phone conversations.
ANL, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, denies any wrongdoing and has branded the “lurid” claims preposterous.
The latest ruling was handed down following a two-day hearing earlier this month during which David Sherborne, for the claimants, sought to add a swathe of new allegations to their case.
He wanted to rely on evidence he said showed that private investigators hired by the Mail had targeted the Princess of Wales by tracking down addresses and mobile phone data for both her and her family. Invoices that named Prince William were also lodged with the court, including one concerning a payment made in 2003, allegedly for information about his 21st birthday party.
Justice Nicklin has repeatedly sought to draw clear boundaries in the case, insisting that the civil litigation does not stray into the realm of a public inquiry.
He has ruled that the claimants must stick to evidence alleging they are the victim of unlawful information gathering, focusing on specific journalists, individual articles and their origins.
The burglary allegation related to a claim that in 1992, two Mail on Sunday journalists burgled the home of businessman Michael Ward. Associated applied to have the allegations thrown out and the judge agreed.
Justice Nicklin said: “Put bluntly, it has become a complex and involved side-show,” adding that he would never have allowed the claimants’ “unorthodox approach” by attempting to run a different case to the one originally pleaded.
He added: “The claimants’ insistence on maintaining the Ward allegations as part of their case reflects a continued and fundamental misunderstanding of the proper scope of this litigation. It also reveals an unreasonable approach to the costs implications of litigating in this way.”
The claimants’ legal team is expected to appeal the ruling as wrong in fact and in law.
A trial is scheduled to begin in mid-January 2026 and could mean the Duke returning to the witness box in his last remaining lawsuit against the tabloid press. A further preliminary hearing is due to take place next month.
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