2024-05-08 17:53:18
Four current British newspaper editors and a number of other senior press figures 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 younger 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 that date back 30 years.
He and the other plaintiffs, including singer Elton John and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, have named about 70 current and former Associated Newspapers employees they accuse of engaging in the unlawful collection of information in the past.
Victoria Newton and Tony Gallagher, now editors of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun and Times, are named, as are the editors of the Sunday Times, Ben Taylor, and the Mail on Sunday, David Dillon.
Restrictions on identifying those people were lifted when Associated Newspapers filed its written defense in London’s High Court, which was published on Wednesday.
The publisher denies engaging in unlawful information gathering, including telephone hacking, wiretapping, wiretapping and burglary, or commissioning illegal acts.
In his defense, he called the allegations “an affront to … hard-working professional journalists” whose reputation and integrity had been “unfairly maligned.”
“The stories in question, many of which were published 20 or more years ago and were not disputed at the time, were the product of responsible journalism that relied on reputable sources,” an Associated spokesman said.
News UK, a subsidiary of Murdoch’s News Corp, declined to comment.
PHONE HACKING CASES AFFECT SEVERAL MEDIA COMPANIES
Newton, who was showbiz editor of the Daily Mail in the early 2000s, is also involved in a separate, long-running legal battle against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World was discontinued in 2011.
Harry has filed several lawsuits against British media companies. This is part of his “mission” to flush out executives and editors he accuses of spreading lies and intruding into people’s lives.
The prince blames the British media for the death of his mother Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997 and accuses British newspapers of hostile and racist attacks on his American wife Meghan. These attacks were cited as a factor in her decision to quit her royal duties and move to California in March 2020.
In February, Harry accepted significant compensation to settle his lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – publishers of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People. This made him the first senior British royal to testify in 130 years.
He could return to the witness stand next year when his lawsuit against NGN goes to trial.
#British #editors #named #Prince #Harrys #lawsuit #Daily #Mail #phone #tapping