Prince Harry and others appeal Daily Mail privacy case loss

Summarised from 8 outlets · Updated 6 Nov, 19:14 · Archive

Prince Harry and five other prominent figures have launched a Court of Appeal bid to challenge a judge's dismissal of their claims against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers.

Prince Harry, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost have launched a Court of Appeal bid challenging a High Court judgment against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers Limited.

The group sued ANL over allegations of unlawful information-gathering. Their claims were heard at an 11-week trial in London earlier this year. In a judgment on 7 July, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases.

In August, the judge ruled that the claimants must pay £9,544,355 within seven days as an initial contribution to ANL's legal costs, pending further hearings to determine the full amount owed. Mr Justice Nicklin also ordered that ANL's costs be assessed on an indemnity basis, which is more favourable to the publisher in terms of recoverable sums, except where previous orders had already been made. The Guardian reports the group faces a total legal bill exceeding £50 million.

Barristers for the claimants alleged at trial that private investigators, freelance journalists and ANL staff carried out acts including voicemail interception, landline tapping and obtaining information by deception, known as 'blagging'. ANL strongly denied the claims. During the trial, the publisher's lawyers said Mail journalists had sourced articles through legitimate means including friends and social circles, press officers and spokespeople, as well as previous reporting and stories from other news agencies.

In his evidence, Harry claimed 'knowingly false' information was added to stories to 'put me off the scent', to conceal unlawful methods. The judge's 436-page ruling stated that the claimants had not proved that any information had been obtained unlawfully and that it could not be inferred a story was obtained unlawfully if there remained a legitimate and realistic legal way it could have been sourced.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the six claimants said: 'We confirm that the claimants have today filed applications with the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the judgments of Mr Justice Nicklin in respect of his dismissal of their claims and the indemnity costs order. The claimants respectfully disagree with those unprecedented decisions, which they consider to be legally and factually flawed.' Court staff confirmed the appeal bid had been filed.

How it is being reported

• Prince Harry and others seek to appeal after comprehensively losing their hacking case against the Daily Mail's publisherThe Duke of Sussex and five others have asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge their devastating defeat in the High Court which threw out all of their allegationsDaily Mail · 6 Nov, 20:08
• Harry and five others seek to challenge Mail publisher privacy rulingThe Duke of Sussex and other public figures lost a High Court case against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.BBC News · 6 Nov, 19:51
• Prince Harry and others launch appeal after losing Daily Mail phone-hacking claimHarry, Doreen Lawrence, Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost face £50m bill after ruling Prince Harry and five other prominent figures have launched a legal challenge against a judge’s verdict in their unsuccessful claims against the Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers. Harry, Doreen Lawrence, the mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence, the singer Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, and the actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost faced a legal bill of more than £50m after losing their case claiming that Mail journalists used unlawful…The Guardian · 6 Nov, 18:59
• Prince Harry to appeal after losing privacy case against Daily Mail publisherThe Duke of Sussex and high-profile figures including Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Sir Elton John have filed applications after judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases in a July judgmentThe i Paper · 6 Nov, 18:30
• Prince Harry to appeal lawsuit against Daily Mail after he was ordered to pay £9,000,000Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leaves the Royal Courts of Justice during the trial against ANL (Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images) Prince Harry and other celebrities have launched a Court of Appeal bid against a newspaper group after a judge ruled Daily Mail journalists did not tap their…Metro · 6 Nov, 18:23
• Harry and high-profile figures bring bid to appeal against Daily Mail rulingsHarry and several other household names lost their cases over alleged unlawful information gathering at publisher Associated Newspapers.Evening Standard · 6 Nov, 17:29
• Prince Harry launches appeal after losing High Court battle with Daily Mail publisherThe Duke of Sussex and other household names have launched a Court of Appeal bid to challenge a judge’s rulings in their unsuccessful claims against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).The Independent · 6 Nov, 17:27
• Prince Harry to appeal after privacy lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher dismissedPrince Harry and other household names are appealing a judge's decision dismissing their privacy lawsuit against a newspaper group.Sky News · 6 Nov, 17:17

In this story: Prince Harry · Baroness Doreen Lawrence · Sir Elton John · David Furnish · Elizabeth Hurley · Sadie Frost · Associated Newspapers Limited · Daily Mail

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log