Prince Harry phone hacking lawsuit: Four British editors named

LONDON:

Four current British newspaper editors and a number of other senior press executives have been named in a privacy lawsuit brought by Prince Harry and other public figures against the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.

Harry, the youngest son of King Charles, is one of seven plaintiffs who sued Associated Newspapers over allegations of wiretapping – commonly known as wiretapping – and other serious breaches of privacy dating back 30 years.

He and the other plaintiffs, including singer Elton John and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, have named about 70 current and former Associated Newspapers employees whom they accuse of previously engaging in illegal intelligence gathering.

Victoria Newton and Tony Gallagher, now editors of Rupert Murdoch’s titles the Sun and The Times respectively, are named, as is Sunday Times editor Ben Taylor and Mail on Sunday editor David Dillon.

Restrictions on their identification were lifted when Associated Newspapers filed its written defense at the High Court in London, which was made public on Wednesday.

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The publisher denies conducting illegal information collection, including phone hacking, eavesdropping, spoofing and hacking, or commissioning any illegal acts.

In her defence, she called the allegations “an insult to … hard-working professional journalists” whose reputations and integrity were “wrongfully dealt with”.

“The stories involved, many of which were published 20 or more years ago and were not subject to any complaints at the time, were the product of responsible journalism based on legitimate sources,” an Associated spokesman said.

News UK, a subsidiary of Murdoch’s News Corp, declined to comment.

Phone hacking cases involve many media groups

Newton, the Daily Mail’s showbiz editor in the early 2000s, is also named in a separate, long-running lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun, and the now defunct News of the World, which closed the 2011.

The phone hacking scandal emerged more than a decade ago, sparking a public inquiry into press ethics and several criminal trials.

Harry has brought several lawsuits against British media as part of his “mission” to purge executives and editors whom he accuses of spreading lies and invading people’s lives.

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The prince blames the British media for the death of his mother Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997 and has accused British newspapers of hostile and racist attacks on his American wife Meghan, which were cited as a factor in their decision to step down. royal duties and to move. in California in March 2020.

In February, Harry was awarded substantial compensation to settle his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – becoming the first senior British monarch to testify in 130 years.

He could be back in the witness box next year if his lawsuit against NGN goes to trial.