The High Court judge presiding over the privacy lawsuit filed by Prince Harry, singer Elton John, and five other high-profile individuals against Associated Newspapers — publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday — said on Tuesday that he will need considerable time to deliver his judgment.
The Duke of Sussex, aged 41, and the other claimants accuse the publisher of widespread unlawful information-gathering activities over more than two decades, starting in the early 1990s. Allegations include voicemail hacking, bugging landlines, and obtaining private information through deception.
Associated Newspapers strongly denies the claims, describing them as “preposterous smears”.
The trial, which lasted nearly 10 weeks, featured evidence from the claimants as well as testimony from numerous current and former senior journalists at the company.
Claimants’ lawyer David Sherborne argued there was an entrenched culture at the newspapers in which journalists routinely used private investigators to carry out unlawful acts. He warned that any finding of unlawful activity would be “a disaster” for the defendant.
In response, the publisher’s lawyer, Antony White, contended that the allegations lacked supporting evidence, described the claimants’ witnesses as unreliable, and portrayed the case as a broad, scattergun attack motivated by a grudge against the press.
At the conclusion of proceedings, Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin told the court:
“The remaining task is, of course, now mine. Judgment will take some time. After a short break over Easter … I will be working on the case and the judgment effectively full-time … so I won’t be doing anything else … and I will be toiling away on the judgment.”
No date has been set for the ruling, which is expected to take several months given the volume and complexity of the evidence.
This appears to be the final major phone-hacking and privacy battle involving Prince Harry and British tabloids, following his earlier partial success against Mirror Group Newspapers. The case has drawn significant attention due to the high-profile claimants, including actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, Elton John’s husband David Furnish, campaigner Doreen Lawrence, and former politician Simon Hughes.
