Prince Harry, centre, with Elton John, left, and Elizabeth Hurley who are expected to give evidence © FT montage/Getty Images

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on x (opens in a new window)

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on facebook (opens in a new window)

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on linkedin (opens in a new window)

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on x (opens in a new window)

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on facebook (opens in a new window)

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on linkedin (opens in a new window)

Prince Harry prepares for High Court showdown with Daily Mail publisher on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save

Alistair Gray and Daniel Thomas

PublishedJanuary 18 2026

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Prince Harry’s crusade against Britain’s tabloid press is reaching its climax as he and other celebrities prepare to take the publisher of the Daily Mail to the High Court over claims that unlawful activity at the media group was “habitual and widespread” over two decades.

King Charles’s younger son is due to return to the UK to testify in a high-stakes courtroom showdown with Associated Newspapers, starting on Monday. Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley are among those set to give evidence in a trial expected to last up to 10 weeks.

The case will bring fresh scrutiny of the Mail’s journalism at a time when its publisher needs to convince regulators and politicians about the merits of its owner’s proposed £500mn takeover of the Telegraph, its rival rightwing media group.

Actress Sadie Frost, left, and former Liberal Democrat politician Simon Hughes © Getty Images/PA

Seven claimants, including actress Sadie Frost and former Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes, contend that stories in Associated titles came from phone hacking and other “dark arts” deployed by private investigators working for the publisher.

Alleged activities include bugging cars and “blagging” private information, such as medical records, through deception.

The run-up to the trial has been marked by bitter claims and counterclaims from both sides. Associated has raised concerns about how evidence in support of the claimants has been obtained.

It has made allegations of a “camouflage scheme” — designed to conceal when Hughes and Frost became aware they had a potential case to ensure that their claims would fall within the necessary legal timeframe.

Barrister David Sherborne, for the claimants, said at a pre-trial hearing that Associated was making “multiple express allegations of serious wrongdoing” without foundation.

The case is the third and final legal battle for Prince Harry in his wide-ranging campaign against the tabloids, which he says have mistreated him and his family throughout his life. The prince, who now lives in California, blames the press for the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Prince Harry has notched up some successes in other cases: in 2023 he won £140,600 in damages from Mirror Group Newspapers after the High Court found there had been “extensive” phone hacking by the publisher.

And a year ago he secured a settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, which agreed to pay the prince “substantial damages” and apologised for intruding into his private life.

Associated has been more combative towards the prince’s legal claims than Murdoch’s company, maintaining a stance of aggressive denial.

The publisher of Britain’s highest circulation paid-for daily newspaper has previously described the claims as “preposterous and without foundation”.

The vigorous denials are a sign that Associated may be less likely to reach a last-minute settlement — always a possibility before civil trials — than Murdoch’s company.

From a reputation perspective, which is a particularly important consideration given the Telegraph deal, the outright denials are also high stakes. Even a relatively limited finding of unlawful activity by Associated could be presented by the claimants as a victory.

No journalist or executive has ever been jailed, convicted or charged with any crime over alleged conduct at the Mail.

In contrast, several employees of Murdoch’s group, including former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, were convicted as a result of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the Sunday red top’s demise.

Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen © James manning/PA

Associated has argued that the claimants, who include Baroness Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen, and Sir Elton John’s husband David Furnish, are trying to drag the Mail titles into the same category as other newspapers.

“The conduct of other newspaper groups is not probative of the allegations made against Associated,” its lawyers stated in a defence filed with the court.

The celebrity claimants maintain that unlawful information gathering took place at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday at least between 1993 and 2011, and in some instances as recently as 2018.

“Associated widely and habitually carried out or commissioned illegal or unlawful information-gathering activities for the purposes of obtaining, preparing or furthering the publication of articles in its newspapers,” the claimants’ lawyers said in court documents.

The trial is set to shine a light on the inner workings of the Mail at a sensitive time. Media analysts expect publisher DMGT’s deal to buy the Telegraph, which would combine the UK’s top conservative news groups, to be heavily scrutinised on both competition grounds as well as to ensure sufficient plurality of views in newspapers.

Lisa Nandy, culture secretary, is expected to come to a decision about the next steps in coming weeks, and analysts expect that she will refer the case to an initial enquiry by regulators. Some senior Labour officials have voiced concern about creating a politically right-of-centre media powerhouse in the UK.

Several high-ranking individuals at Associated are due to testify at the hearing, including long-standing Mail executive Paul Dacre. Actor Jude Law is also scheduled to give evidence in the star-studded case.

Paul Dacre was editor of the Daily Mail for 26 years © Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

Prince Harry’s appearance in the witness stand, expected on Thursday, is set to be his second in three years. He was the first British royal to give evidence under oath since the 19th century in the 2023 trial against the Mirror.

At the pre-trial hearing last Thursday, the High Court heard that Associated was making accusations of “dishonesty, fraud and conspiracy” against the claimants’ representatives.

The credibility of some private investigators due to testify has also come under scrutiny. One witness in the case, private investigator Gavin Burrows, disavowed an earlier witness statement.

Sherborne said in a written submission that serious allegations about the claimants’ representatives were being “bandied about” by Associated “without a solid foundation”.