The written statements of Britain’s Prince Harry, singer Elton John, and five other high-profile figures in their lawsuits against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper were published on Tuesday.
The seven claimants are suing Associated Newspapers in the High Court in London over allegations of phone tapping and other privacy violations, which the publisher has categorically denied.
The following is a summary of witness statements issued in response to Associated Newspapers’ application to dismiss the case:
PRINCE HARRY
In his witness statement, the British royal claims that he is suing Associated Newspapers for “unchecked power, influence, and criminality” in the public interest.
“The evidence I’ve seen indicates that Associated’s journalists are criminals with journalistic powers, which should concern all of us,” Harry says. “I believe it is my duty to expose the full extent of this cover-up to the British public.”
Harry also mentioned feeling like he was “under 24-hour surveillance,” which he attributed in part to Associated Newspapers’ alleged illegal actions.
ELTON JOHN, DAVID FURNISH, AND ELIZABETH HURLEY
In their witness statements, singer John and his husband David Furnish claim that actor Elizabeth Hurley, a friend, and fellow claimant, informed them about allegations that they were targeted by Associated Newspapers.
The couple, who claim a private investigator tapped their home phone on behalf of the publisher, said they were “devastated.”
“I have found the Mail’s deliberate invasion into my medical health and medical details surrounding the birth of our son… abhorrent and outside even the most basic standards of human decency,” John said in his statement.
Hurley, who claims her phones were tapped and microphones were placed on her home windows, described the alleged invasion of her privacy as “brutal” in her written testimony.
DOREEN LAWRENCE
Lawrence, the mother of murdered Black teenager Stephen Lawrence in a racist attack in 1993, spoke of feeling betrayed by the Daily Mail, which had long campaigned for justice for her son.
“The idea that something else had been going on behind the scenes completely hidden from me, that I had been played for a fool and for so many years,” she said in her witness statement, “was deeply shocking and upsetting to me.”
Lawrence also claimed that Associated Newspapers’ handling of her lawsuit reminded her of the police’s response when she asked questions about the investigation into her son’s murder, in which they tried “to stop me taking action and to deny, hide, and conceal the things they had done wrong from me.”
“I saw it as a sign of guilt at the time, and I still do,” she added. “If you have done nothing wrong, you should have nothing to hide. I believe that when the truth comes out, it will reveal their guilt, just as it did with the cops.”
SADIE FROST
In response to stories about the breakdown of her marriage to ex-husband Jude Law and their son’s medical treatment, actress Sadie Frost accused Daily Mail journalists of being “cold-blooded.”
In her witness statement, she stated that Law believed she was leaking information about their divorce.
“It’s a horrible feeling to have someone you care about accuse you of something you didn’t do and to get phone calls accusing you or your friends of leaking information,” Frost said.
ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS’ RESPONSE
Gavin Burrows, a private investigator whose alleged work for Associated Newspapers is cited in the claimants’ lawsuits, denied conducting illegal information gathering for the publisher.
“I was not instructed or commissioned to conduct any unlawful information gathering by the Mail on Sunday or the Daily Mail,” Burrows stated in his witness statement.
In a statement, Associated Newspapers stated that it categorically denies the claimants’ allegations and will vigorously defend them if necessary.
“While the Mail’s admiration for Baroness Lawrence remains undimmed, we are profoundly saddened that she has been persuaded to bring this case,” the publisher said on Monday evening.
