Stephen Lawrence’s mother has shared her “disbelief” after she was contacted by Prince Harry, who uncovered evidence she had been allegedly spied on by the Daily Mail.
Baroness Doreen Lawrence, a campaigner for reforms in the police service, has told the BBC that she was “floored” by what the Duke of Sussex discovered, as she is joining him and other public figures in suing the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, at the High Court in London.
Associated Newspapers has denied claims that it hacked phones and called them “preposterous smears”.
Baroness Lawrence is one of six people, including Liz Hurley, Sir Elton John and politician Sir Simon Hughes part of a group who decided to bring legal action against Associated Newspapers in 2022.
She alleged the Daily Mail had illegally spied on her to gather information about the investigation into the 1993 murder of her son.
Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death aged 18 in a racist attack in Eltham, south London. The paper is accused of commissioning investigators to tap her home phone, hack her voicemails and monitor her bank accounts and phone bills.
Baroness Lawrence told the BBC that Prince Harry “was busy looking at his own case and then my name kept cropping up” and “felt that I should know about it”. She subsequently met lawyers Anjlee Sangani and David Sherborne, who told her she had been spied on.
She expressed her disbelief: “Why would anybody want to be listening to my calls, hacking into my phone?
“It just floors you, because you don’t expect that, but not somebody like me anyway,” she added. “You know, all I’m trying to do over the years is just to try and get justice for my son.”
The Independent contacted Associated Newspapers for comment.
The campaigner has said the paper had “added to the trauma” her family has gone through and called on the paper to issue a public apology over the allegations. Associated Newspapers is defending the legal action.
The High Court previously heard the campaigner had been “alerted” to a potential legal claim against the Daily Mail’s publisher by a text from the duke.
In July, a High Court judge asked Prince Harry must hand over documents that relate to alleged payments made for evidence in his legal claim.
A trial of the claims is expected to start in January and last for nine weeks.
