Sam Tobin and Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) – Four current British newspaper editors and a number of other senior press figures have been named in a privacy claim brought by Prince Harry and other public figures against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Harry, the youngest son of King Charles, is one of seven plaintiffs suing Associated Newspapers over allegations of voicemail interception – commonly known as phone hacking – and other serious privacy violations dating back 30 years.
He and other plaintiffs, including singer Elton John and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, named about 70 current and former Associated Newspapers employees whom they accuse of past involvement in illegal information gathering.
Named are Victoria Newton and Tony Gallagher, now editors of Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun and The Times respectively, as well as Sunday Times editor Ben Taylor and Mail on Sunday David Dillon.
Restrictions on their identification were lifted when Associated Newspapers filed a written defense in London’s High Court, which was made public on Wednesday.
The publisher denies illegal collection of information, including phone hacking, wiretapping, eavesdropping and burglary, or organizing any illegal activities.
In his defence, he called the allegations “an insult to… hard-working professional journalists” whose reputation and integrity had been “unjustly defamed”.
“The relevant articles, many of which were published 20 years or more ago and were not subject to any complaints at that time, were the product of responsible journalism based on legitimate sources,” an Associated spokesman said.
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News UK, a subsidiary of Murdoch’s News Corp (NASDAQ:), declined to comment.
CASES OF PHONE HACKING AFFECT SEVERAL MEDIA GROUPS
Newton, the showbiz editor of the Daily Mail in the early 2000s, is also named in a separate, long-running lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun newspaper and the now-defunct News of the World, which was closed in 2011.
The phone hacking scandal erupted more than a decade ago, prompting a public investigation into press ethics and several criminal trials.
Harry has filed 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.
The prince blames the British media for the death of his mother Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997 and has blamed British newspapers for hostile and racist attacks on his American wife Meghan, which have been cited as a factor in their decision to quit royal duties and move. to California in March 2020.
In February, Harry agreed to substantial damages to settle his case against the Mirror Group (MGN) newspaper – publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – becoming the first senior member of the British royal family to testify in 130 years.
He could return as a witness next year if his lawsuit against NGN goes to trial.