Prince Harry and other celebrities bringing legal action against the Daily Mail had “leaky” social circles, the publisher’s lawyers have claimed.
The second day of the trial into alleged unlawful information gathering for the publication of stories about the claimants is due to resume on Tuesday morning, with the Duke of Sussex telling the court on Monday that it was “disturbing to feel that my every move, thought or feeling was being tracked”.
Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley all allege Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) had a practice of “clear systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering”.
This included hiring private investigators, “blagging” medical records and flight details, and accessing phone conversations.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the claimants said ANL “knew they had skeletons in their closet” when they emphatically denied all claims of unlawful practices.
In written submissions on behalf of the duke, barrister David Sherborne said ANL’s methods of information-gathering left him “paranoid beyond belief” and created a “massive strain” on personal relationships.
ANL have denied the claims.
Private investigator paid to obtain Harry’s ex-girlfriend’s flight details, court told
The Duke of Sussex was driven “paranoid beyond belief” with a “massive strain” left on his personal relationships due to alleged targeting by the publisher of the Daily Mail, the High Court has heard.
The duke told how he felt like his “every move, thought or feeling was being tracked and monitored” and how the alleged actions created “distrust and suspicion” and “driv(ing) me paranoid beyond belief, isolating me”.
Harry’s claim relates to 14 articles, bylined to various journalists but “most prominently Katie Nicholl and Rebecca English” – the latter now the Mail’s Royal Editor.
Among the duke’s allegations are that a private investigator called Mike Behr was commissioned to unlawfully obtain flight details and the seat number of Harry’s then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy for her journey to South Africa, and that he suggested to journalists that they could “plant someone next to her”.
Other articles related to “the intimate family matter” of Harry being chosen as godfather to the child of his former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.
Another was about Harry’s “intimate relationship” with presenter Natalie Pinkham, where Harry alleges his “privacy was invaded through the act of gathering information concerning him through UIG”.
Holly Evans20 January 2026 09:12
Who are the seven people suing the Daily Mail publisher?
Seven high-profile people have brought legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.
The group are bringing claims against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), accusing it of carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars or “blagging” private records.
ANL firmly denies the “preposterous” allegations, which are being tried over nine weeks in London.
- Prince Harry
- Sir Elton John and David Furnish
- Baroness Doreen Lawrence
- Former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes
- Actress Elizabeth Hurley
- Actress Sadie Frost
Holly Evans20 January 2026 09:09
‘Every thought was tracked – I was made paranoid,’ Prince Harry tells court
Prince Harry was left feeling “paranoid beyond belief” after the publisher of the Daily Mail tracked his “every move, thought or feeling”, a major court case against the company has been told.
The Duke of Sussex said that methods allegedly employed by Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) – including obtaining flight details and monitoring the phone conversations of his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy – had placed a “massive strain” on his personal relationships and created “distrust and suspicion”.
King Charles’s younger son is joined by Sir Elton John and the singer’s husband David Furnish, campaigner and Labour peer Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actors Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley in accusing ANL of the “clear systematic and sustained use of unlawful information-gathering”.
Read the full story here:
Holly Evans20 January 2026 09:06