Prince Harry, Elton John score major court win

A coalition of stars including Prince Harry, Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley and others scored a key victory in their bid to take phone tapping allegations to trial.

The Duke of Sussex and stars including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley have won their bid to take the publisher of the Daily Mail to trial over alleged phone tapping and other breaches of privacy.

Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) stood accused of carrying out or commissioning unlawful information gathering such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records, and accessing and recording private phone conversations.

The publisher “firmly” denies the allegations.

Prince Harry appeared at Britain's High Court for the hearing on whether stars could take Associated Newspapers to trial. Picture: AFP

Prince Harry and Sir Elton John were two of the highest-profile figures to lend their star power to the suit. Picture: Getty Images

At a preliminary hearing in March, its legal team asked Mr Justice Nicklin to rule in its favour without a trial, arguing the legal challenge had been brought “far too late”.

In ruling on Friday morning in London, Mr Justice Nicklin said ANL had “not been able to deliver a ‘knockout blow’ to the claims of any of these claimants”.

In his 95-page judgment, he said each of the seven people had a “real prospect” of demonstrating ANL concealed “relevant facts” that would have allowed them to bring a claim against the publisher earlier.

“What was deliberately hidden from the claimants – if they are correct in their allegations – were the underlying unlawful acts that are alleged to have been used to obtain information for subsequent publication,” he added.

The Duke brought the privacy case along with six others, including Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish, actress and designer Sadie Frost, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes.

They alleged they had been victims of “abhorrent criminal activity” and “gross breaches of privacy”.

Originally published as Prince Harry, Elton John score major court win