The first hearing in the lawsuit filed by Britain's Prince Harry, singer Elton John, among a few other renowned personalities, against UK's Daily Mail newspaper began on Monday. The case is regarding breaches of privacy including alleged phone tapping.

The seven claimants including Prince Harry, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and David Furnish, launched the action against the publisher last year. However, legal restrictions that the newspaper group requested have not yet been made public.

In October, lawyers of Prince Harry and Frost released a statement saying the case against the publisher of Daily Mail — Associated Newspapers — included calls, homes, and cars being bugged as well as paying people for sensitive information.

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Harry is also already suing the publisher for an article that alleges he tried to hush up his legal challenge over the UK government's refusal to allow him to pay for security. Earlier this month, at a hearing in the London high court, his lead attorney had asked Judge Matthew Nickin to either strike out the publisher's defence or to deliver a summary judgment, which would then be a ruling in his favour without going to trial.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan lost their UK police protection that was publicly funded when they stepped down as senior working members of the royal family and moved to North America in 2020.

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First Published:Mar 27, 2023 11:19 AM IST