Prince Harry to give evidence in lawsuit against Daily Mail next week

LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry is due to give evidence at London’s High Court next Thursday in his and other high-profile British figures’ privacy lawsuits against the publisher of the Daily Mail, his lawyers said on Thursday.

It will be the prince’s second such court date in three years, having become the first British royal to give evidence in 130 years in 2023 in another lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers.

In next week’s case, Harry, the younger son of King Charles, and six others including singer Elton John, are suing Associated Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering dating back 30 years.

Associated rejects any wrongdoing by its titles, saying there is no basis to any of what it describes as the claimants’ “preposterous smears” against its journalists.

The nine-week trial starts on Monday and will see Harry, John and the other claimants – including John’s husband David Furnish and actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost – give evidence as they seek to prove their case against Associated.

Harry will be in the witness box on January 22, according to a draft trial timetable made public on Thursday. John and Furnish are due to give evidence in February but will seek to do so remotely, their lawyers said.

The case against Associated is the last outstanding case brought by Harry and his U.S. wife Meghan against media organisations since 2019, in what he has described as his mission to rid the British press of senior executives and editors he accuses of abusing their power.

Associated unsuccessfully applied to throw out Harry and the cases because they had been brought too late, with the High Court ruling in 2023 that the lawsuit should proceed to trial. However, that issue is still likely to form part of the arguments at the trial.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin and Michael Holden)