Prince Harry claims he was “largely deprived” of parts of his teenage years due to the unlawful actions of the Daily Mail’s publisher, a court has heard.
The Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon and Sadie Frost all attended the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday for the start of the first hearing in their claims against Associated Newspapers Limited.
As part of the claims, Harry is claiming that he “cut off” friends as he suspected them of being sources of information relayed to the press. He also feels the publisher’s acts are a betrayal of the promises made in the wake of Princess Diana’s death.
In documents filed in the case, barrister David Sherborne said: “Suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associated’s publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a ‘suspect’ since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associated’s newspapers.”
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He added: “The claimant regards Associated’s unlawful acts to amount to a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.”
Harry is one of a number of high-profile celebrities fighting the Mail’s publishers in court over privacy claims.
Lawyers for ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline, said the allegations are “firmly denied” and that the “stale” claims have been brought too late as it made a bid to throw out the cases.
Other figures involved in the case include Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence who was stabbed to death in a racist attack in 1993.
ANL’s lawyers have said the claims should be dismissed without a trial.
The barrister has also argued that unless lawyers for the people bringing the claim make an application, some aspects of the cases should be thrown out as they breach orders made by Lord Justice Leveson as part of the inquiry bearing his name.
The case continues.
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