The China Mail - Prince Harry, Elton John 'violated' by UK media's alleged intrusion

Harry, pop icon John and his husband David Furnish and four other high-profile figures are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, for privacy invasions.

Harry returned to Britain to attend Monday's opening proceedings in the last unresolved case brought by the British royal in his crusade against several UK newspaper publishers.

The claimants allege the tabloids illegally intercepted voicemail messages, listened into phone calls and deceptively obtained private information from at least 1993 to 2018, in some instances.

They accuse ANL of paying private investigators implicated in other phone hacking lawsuits for some of the "unlawful information gathering acts" to generate stories.

ANL has consistently denied the claims, calling them "lurid" and "preposterous".

In new court submissions, Harry's lawyers detailed the self-described impact of 14 "unlawful articles" about him in the two tabloids that were "based on repeated, sustained and covert acquisition of private information".

Harry stated they created a "massive strain" on his personal relationships, "creating distrust and suspicion" and drove "me paranoid beyond belief, isolating me".

Meanwhile, witness statements by John and Furnish showed "they feel that their home, and the safety of their children and loved ones, has been violated".

The pair felt "outrage" when they discovered "Associated's invasion into medical details surrounding the birth of their son Zachary, and the stealing of their son's birth certificate".

- 'Mission' -

It is the third and final case brought against a British newspaper publisher by Harry, who has called it his "mission" to take on the tabloids "for the greater good".

King Charles III's younger son has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi.

The 41-year-old -- dressed Monday in a navy blue suit and a matching tie -- is set to give evidence Thursday.

He made history in 2023 by becoming the first senior British royal to take the stand in more than a century, when he testified as part of his successful hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

Last year, he also settled in his court action against Murdoch's UK tabloid publisher, which agreed to pay him "substantial damages" for privacy breaches, including phone hacking.

Actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, lawmaker and campaigner Doreen Lawrence -- whose son Stephen was infamously murdered in a 1993 racist attack -- and ex-politician Simon Hughes are the other claimants in the ANL case.

All seven were in court or following proceedings remotely Monday, and are set to testify, with Hurley due up later in January, followed by John and Furnish in early February.

- 'Systematic' -

Delivering his opening statement, the claimants' lawyer David Sherborne said he will show "there was clear and systematic use of unlawful gathering of information" at ANL.

He added it "knew they had skeletons in their closet" and that years of "emphatic denials were not true".

ANL hired more than a dozen private investigators to conduct unlawful vehicle checks, access flight information and bank details, the claimants allege.

They claim investigators would impersonate individuals to obtain information, in a practice known as blagging. They also say ANL covered it up through the "mass destruction" of records.

ANL lawyer Antony White countered in written arguments that "editors, desk heads and journalists" are "lining up to reject the claimants' allegations of habitual and widespread phone hacking, phone tapping and blagging within the organisation".

Harry's visit is a rare UK return after stepping back from royal duties in 2020 and relocating eventually to California with wife Meghan.

During his last visit in September, Harry met with the king amid a bitter family rift. But there are no reported plans for him to see his father during this visit.

A.Zhang--ThChM