San Francisco Frontiers - Harry set for final courtroom battle against UK media

The trial, expected to last up to nine weeks, is scheduled to start at London's High Court on Monday.

It is the third and final case brought by the prince, who is said to see holding the media to account as a personal mission.

Harry has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi.

King Charles III's younger son is bringing the case along with six other high-profile complainants including pop icon Elton John and John's husband David Furnish.

The seven accuse Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, of allegedly carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars.

They also allegedly impersonated individuals to obtain medical information -- a practice known as blagging -- and accessed private phone conversations.

The media group has firmly denied the allegations, calling them "lurid" and "preposterous".

- Rare UK trip -

Harry is expected to attend for some of the first three days of opening statements.

He is then due to take the stand for a full day of testimony on Thursday, according to a draft trial schedule shared with reporters by lawyers.

Actor Elizabeth Hurley is set to give evidence the following week, followed by John and Furnish in early February. Actor Sadie Frost is also among the complainants.

In 2023, Harry made history by becoming the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for more than a century, when he testified as part of his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

It will be a rare trip back to Britain for the prince, also known as the Duke of Sussex, who stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated eventually to California with wife Meghan, where they live with their two children.

During his last UK visit in September, Harry met with the king, seeking to start to repair a bitter rift with his immediate family.

But UK media have said there are no plans for Harry to see Charles during next week's visit.

- 'Blagging' claim -

The new trial follows earlier cases brought against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) and Mirror Group.

Last year Prince Harry settled out of court in his action against Murdoch's UK tabloid publisher.

NGN -- publisher of tabloids The Sun and the now defunct News of the World -- agreed to pay him "substantial damages" in January 2025 after admitting intruding into his private life, including by hacking his phone.

In a statement, NGN offered a "full and unequivocal apology" to the prince for "serious intrusion" into the private lives of Harry and his mother Princess Diana by The Sun and also "phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World".

In his other case against Mirror Group, a High Court ruling in December 2023 said Harry had been a victim of phone hacking by journalists working for the group and awarded him £140,600 ($179,600) in damages.

Media lawyer Mark Stephens told AFP much had changed in the British media in recent years, but that this final case would primarily be about "press freedom".

"Press freedom is essential but so is freedom from being illegally spied on," he said.

"I think we're not going to be looking so much at yesterday's gossip. I think this case is going to be more about tomorrow's accountability for the media more generally," he added.

Q.Taylor--SFF