Prince Harry, Elton John and others are suing the Daily Mail publisher

Several public figures are suing the British paper company over alleged privacy violations, including phone tapping.

Britain’s Prince Harry and singer Elton John are among several public figures suing the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over alleged phone tapping and other privacy violations.

The other actresses involved in the lawsuit are Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, Elton John’s husband and filmmaker David Furnish, and Doreen Lawrence, the mother of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a 1993 racist attack.

The six were brought to the attention of Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) “to compelling and highly disturbing evidence that they had been the victims of heinous criminal activity and gross violations of privacy,” according to a statement released on Thursday by the law firm Hamlins, which specializes in the group acts .

Violations have included hiring private investigators to place listening devices in people’s cars and homes, hiring live, private phone conversations to be tapped, paying police officers for sensitive information and identifying people to obtain medical records.

“So now they have joined forces to uncover the truth and hold the journalists responsible, many of whom still hold positions of high authority and power today, fully accountable,” Hamlins said in his statement.

Hamlins said it represents Harry, King Charles’ younger son, and Frost, while Lawrence, Hurley, John and Furnish are represented by the Gunnercooke law firm.

ANL, publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, one of the world’s most widely read news websites, said it had “completely and unequivocally” denied the allegations.

“We resolutely and unequivocally reject these absurd slurs, which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal involving articles up to 30 years old.” , said a spokesman for the publisher.

“These baseless and highly defamatory allegations – based on no credible evidence – appear to be simply a fishing expedition by plaintiffs and their attorneys, some of whom have already prosecuted cases elsewhere.”

Following the phone hacking scandal in the UK, there have been a number of lawsuits alleging illegal activities at newspapers.

Lawrence, whose son was killed in a racially motivated attack in south London in 1993, had also filed a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of various titles including The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World.

While most of these claims have since been resolved, this is the first claim brought against ANL.

NGN has settled claims related to News Of The World without ever admitting liability for claims related to The Sun.

Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) has settled claims relating to its titles, including The People and The Sunday Mirror.

Both publishers are currently facing further lawsuits and have recently attempted to end the long-running legal battle.

Harry, the Duke of Sussex has already filed several lawsuits against Associated Newspapers publications.

He is currently suing the Mail on Sunday for defamation over an article which says he tried to keep details of his legal battle to restore his police protection secret and last year won damages from the same newspaper over allegations he turned his back on had Royal Marines.

His wife Meghan also won a privacy case against the publisher last December for printing a letter she wrote to her estranged father.

The couple’s ties with the British tabloids collapsed after their marriage in 2018, and they have previously said they have “zero engagement” with four major UK newspapers, including the Daily Mail, accusing them of false and invasive reporting .

Media intrusion was a major factor they cited in their decision to step down from royal duties and move to the United States two years ago.