Rupert Murdoch\u2019s British tabloid papers bugged Prince Harry\u2019s landline phones and accessed the messages on the pager of his late mother Princess Diana, the British royal\u2019s legal team told London\u2019s High Court on Thursday.Harry, the younger son of King Charles and the late Princess Diana, and more than 40 others are suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over accusations of unlawful activities by journalists and private investigators on its tabloids, the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, from the mid-1990s until 2016.In a ruling last July, Judge Timothy Fancourt said Harry could take his claims of unlawful information gathering to trial, but his allegations of decades-old mobile phone hacking were thrown out for being filed too late.In a hearing at the High Court on Thursday, Harry\u2019s lawyers sought to amend his lawsuit in light of that ruling, and to add other, new allegations.These include further claims that the Sun ordered private investigators to target his then girlfriend and now wife Meghan in 2016, and accusations of widespread bugging of his calls.\u201cThe claimant also brings a claim and seeks relief in relation to the interception of landline calls, the interception of calls from cordless phones and analogue mobile calls, and the interception of landline voicemails, as distinct from phone hacking,\u201d his lawyers\u2019 said in court documents.The claim also includes allegations relating to Diana who \u201cwas under close surveillance and her calls were being unlawfully intercepted by (NGN), which was known about by its editors and senior executives\u201d.NGN is objecting to the addition of what it called a \u201chuge number of new allegations\u201d for numerous reasons including that they were made too late, lacked evidence, and related to phone-hacking claims which had already been dismissed.\u201cThey cover time periods falling outside the scope of the current pleading and the generic statements of case, and in many cases relate to allegations which have been well-publicised for as long as 30 years,\u201d NGN\u2019s lawyers said in court filings.In 2011, NGN apologised for widespread phone-hacking by journalists at the News of the World, which Murdoch shut down following a public backlash. NGN has since settled more than 1,300 claims but the group has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by Sun staff.On Wednesday, lawyers for Harry and the other claimants told the court that Murdoch and other senior executives were involved in the cover-up of widespread wrongdoing, and they had given false evidence to courts, parliament and a public inquiry.NGN says some claimants are simply using the lawsuits, expected to go to trial in January next year, as a means to attack the tabloid press, and that allegations against its current and former staff were \u201ca scurrilous and cynical attack on their integrity\u201d.Since stepping down from royal duties in 2020 to move to California, Harry has turned his focus onto battling the British press which he says has intruded into his private life since he was a child, spreading lies about him and those close to him.In December he won a lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspaper over allegations of phone-hacking and unlawful activities, with the judge agreeing senior figures had been aware of what had been going on.(Reuters)phone hacking. tabloid papers, phone hacking, unlawful activities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid papers are accused of bugging Prince Harry’s landline phones and accessing messages on Princess Diana’s pager, as stated by Prince Harry’s legal team in London’s High Court. Prince Harry and over 40 others are suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) for alleged unlawful activities by its journalists and private investigators, involving the Sun and the defunct News of the World, from the mid-1990s until 2016. A ruling by Judge Timothy Fancourt allowed Harry’s claims of unlawful information gathering to proceed to trial, but dismissed allegations of old mobile phone hacking for being filed too late. Harry’s lawyers aim to amend his lawsuit to include new allegations, such as the Sun targeting his then-girlfriend Meghan in 2016 and widespread bugging of his calls. The claim also involves allegations about Princess Diana’s surveillance and call interception by NGN, known to its editors and senior executives. NGN has objected to these new allegations, citing various reasons including lateness and lack of evidence. In 2011, NGN apologized for phone-hacking by News of the World journalists and settled over 1,300 claims, but denies wrongdoing by Sun staff. Harry’s lawyers have accused Murdoch and senior executives of covering up wrongdoing and giving false evidence. NGN argues some claimants are attacking the tabloid press, and denies allegations against its staff. Since moving to California in 2020, Harry has focused on battling the British press for intruding into his private life. In December, he won a lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspaper for phone-hacking and unlawful activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1418,383,461,932,1610,2218,1386,591,450,2073,1799,2874,1137,2873,1906,494,2875,18],"class_list":["post-4969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-allegations","tag-attack","tag-british","tag-court","tag-evidence","tag-investigators","tag-king-charles","tag-lawyers","tag-london","tag-mobile-phone","tag-parliament","tag-phone-hacking","tag-royals","tag-tabloid-papers","tag-trial","tag-uk","tag-unlawful-activities","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n