By BRIAN MELLEY (Associated Press)
Prince Harry accused the publisher of The Sun tabloid of unlawfully intercepting phone calls of his late mother, Princess Diana, and his father, now King Charles III, as he tried to expand his privacy invasion lawsuit against News Group Newspapers during a three-day hearing in the High Court.
During a three-day hearing in the High Court, the Duke of Sussex is seeking permission to add new claims to his ongoing lawsuit based on evidence largely obtained from NGN, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, according to his lawyer.
Lawyer David Sherborne revealed that eavesdropping on Diana, her then-estranged husband Charles, Prince of Wales, and his then paramour Camilla Parker Bowles revealed private information about Harry from as early as age 9.
Diana suspected she was being followed and her calls were being listened to, according to the amended complaint. Articles in The Sun and now-defunct News of the World referenced conversations Diana had with close confidants, showing that journalists and paparazzi had inside knowledge of her whereabouts, including her therapy sessions.
In court papers, Sherborne stated that the defendant's newspapers dismissed his late mother's concerns as 'paranoid delusions,' when it was actually known by editors and senior executives that she was under close surveillance and her calls were being unlawfully intercepted by NGN.
The new claims in Harry's case build on allegations raised in the High Court that implicated Murdoch in the cover-up of unlawful information gathering at his newspapers or that he had 'at the very least turned a blind eye' to it.
Harry, along with 44 others including actor Hugh Grant and filmmaker Guy Ritchie, alleges that between 1994 and 2016 News Group journalists violated their privacy through intercepting voicemails, tapping phones, bugging cars, and using deception to access confidential information.
The claims also assert that executives lied about the wrongdoing and orchestrated an effort to delete millions of emails and silence those who might reveal the truth about what occurred.
Defense lawyer Anthony Hudson criticized the new allegations as an attempt to grab headlines, arguing that Harry waited too long to bring them and didn't follow court procedure for doing so, distracting from issues in the case tentatively scheduled for trial in January.
NGN issued a statement dismissing the new allegations as 'unjustified inferences in a scurrilous and cynical attack' on former journalists, staff, and senior executives at News International, now News UK, the parent of NGN.
Judge Timothy Fancourt, who is expected to rule later on the application to amend the lawsuit, had previously rejected News Group's efforts to dismiss the case on the grounds that it was brought beyond the six-year limitation period.
But the judge agreed with the newspaper that Harry and Grant could not pursue claims that reporters had listened to their voicemails because news of the phone hacking scandal was so well known they should have been aware of the activity to file lawsuits on time.
Harry’s legal action against News Group Newspapers is one of three he’s filed against Britain’s biggest tabloids over alleged unlawful activity carried out by journalists and private investigators they hired that came to light after a phone hacking scandal erupted at News of the World in 2011.
Harry, 39, the younger son of King Charles III, has used the courts in his campaign against the press that is the cause of a variety of personal grievances.
He holds the news media responsible for the death of his mother, who was killed in a car accident while being followed by paparazzi. He also mentioned unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media as one of the reasons he and his biracial wife, former actor Meghan Markle, moved to the U.S.
His new claims include allegations The Sun hired a private investigator to uncover personal information about Meghan, including her Social Security number, mobile phone number and details about her family.
In December, Harry’s legal efforts were successful when Fancourt concluded that phone hacking at Mirror Group Newspapers was “widespread and habitual.” In addition to a court judgment, he recently settled remaining allegations that included his legal fees. The total amount wasn’t disclosed, but he was set to receive an interim payment of 400,000 pounds ($508,000).
He has another case awaiting judgment against the owner of the Daily Mail.
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