Harry´s teenage years affected by the press, lawyer reveals in legal challenge

Prince Harry claims he was “largely deprived” of significant aspects of his teenage life due to the unlawful actions of the Daily Mail’s publisher, court documents show as he made a surprise appearance at the High Court in London yesterday.

Harry, Sir Elton John and 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 (ANL).

These high-profile people are part of a group, (which also includes Liz Hurley and former Lib Dem MP Sir Simon Hughes), bringing privacy claims against the British publisher over allegations it carried out or commissioned illegal or unlawful information-gathering—including hiring of private investigators, placing listening devices in cars and accessing and recording private phone conversations.

During the day one of the four-day hearing in London, documents detailing the group’s claims were made available to journalists. In a document filed on Harry’s behalf, barrister David Sherborne said the duke is “troubled that, through Associated’s unlawful acts, he was largely deprived of important aspects of his teenage years.”

Sherborne continued: “In particular, 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.”

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” allegations have been made too late as it made a bid to throw out the cases.

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