Queen ‘approved threatening News International with legal action’
Prince Harry’s legal team have listed 208 articles about him in The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World which his lawyers claim were as a result of private information being unlawfully gathered.
The stories’ headlines and reporters’ names were included in court documents as part of a legal action by the Duke of Sussex, who is suing the publications’ owners – News Group Newspapers (NGN) – over alleged phone hacking, including listening to private voicemail messages.
NGN is bringing a bid to have Harry’s case thrown out, along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant, at a three-day hearing in London which started on Tuesday, arguing they have been brought too late.
Prince Harry pictured at the Royal Courts of Justice in March. Pic: AP
The court documents show:
• A transcript of an alleged intercepted phone message in 2006 from his brother Prince William to Harry claiming to be his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy
• Harry said in a February 2018 email to Buckingham Palace that an apparent lack of response by the newspapers’ publishers – formerly known as News International – over phone hacking claims was making the “institution” [Royal Family] look “ineffective and weak”
• Harry questioned if News International journalists should be allowed “into Windsor” [Castle] for his wedding to Meghan Markle in May 2018 “if it isn’t resolved”
• Harry said “there needs to be an ultimatum otherwise this institution and everything it stands for becomes a laughing stock”
• Another email from the palace said the Queen approved threatening News International with legal action
• The prince’s lawyers claim Harry has “suffered considerable distress, as well as the loss of his dignity or standing, and his personal autonomy, as a result of the misuse of his private information by NGN”
According to the court documents, the first of the 208 articles was published on 6 January 1996 and was headlined “Diana: I’ll take my time Ma’am; Exclusive!”
Harry’s lawyers claim it contained private information about the prince’s “personal life and in particular, his health and details of a skiing accident”.
Also included are articles about his “education and professional life” and “details about his relationship with Chelsy Davy”.
Harry’s former girlfriend Chelsy Davy pictured in 2011
The 208th article listed was published by The Sun on 1 November 2016 and was headlined “Smitten Harry bombarded Meghan with texts until he got a date”.
His lawyers claim the story contained private information concerning his “personal life and in particular the fact that he had ‘inundated’ and ‘besieged’ Ms Markle with text messages and also details of and the frequency of their dates”.
In February 2018, Harry sent an email to the-then palace communications director Sally Osman about the hacking claims against News International
When Ms Osman replied there had been no response, he said the ‘institution’ was looking ‘ineffective and weak’
A month later, Ms Osman emailed to say she had the Queen’s consent to use legal action
In the 2006 William phone message to his brother, a male speaker puts on a female voice, lapsing into normal voice.
The male speaker says: “Hi, it’s Chelsy here. I just want to say I miss you so much, and I think you’re the most – best-looking ginger I’ve ever seen – although you really are quite ugly for a ginger, but hope you’re having a lovely time – I really miss you. It’s lovely out here in Africa, and hopefully I’ll see you very soon, you big, hairy fat ginger. Anyway, speak to you later. Bye.”
According to Harry’s lawyers, the audio transcript of the voicemail was seized from a private investigator’s home.
His legal team claimed around that time there had been a number of suspicious calls from the investigator to Harry’s mobile.
Read more:
Harry’s claim about William settling hacking case is awkward for Royal Family
Harry’s barrister David Sherborne has alleged the duke’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had her calls and messages intercepted by NGN.
He claimed that articles taken from 1994 and 1995 demonstrated that NGN journalists and paparazzi working on their behalf “had inside knowledge” of where Diana was going to be.
And the phone calls of the King and Queen Consort were intercepted by the publisher of The Sun in the 1990s, the prince’s legal team alleges.
Mr Sherborne alleged that NGN was intercepting phone calls and messages, as well as obtaining itemised phone bills of Charles and Camilla.
Articles allegedly published as a result between 1994 and 1995 include stories in The Sun from August 1995 with the headline “Heir to the Phone” and “The Midnight Caller”.
Earlier this week, Harry’s lawyers said Prince William settled a phone hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group in 2020 for a “very large sum”.
NGN has previously settled a number of claims since the phone hacking scandal broke in relation to The News Of The World, which closed in 2011, but has consistently denied that any unlawful information gathering took place at The Sun.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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