International law firm Withers' defamation lawyer, Amber Melville-Brown, has said that Prince Harry's privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, is "highly likely" to proceed to trial.
This development could potentially compel members of the royal family to testify in court. ANL has requested the case be dismissed, arguing that the allegations are too old and exceed the six-year limitation period.
Melville-Brown told Newsweek that it is probable the summary judgment application will not succeed and the case will move forward to trial. She said that Prince Harry's goal may be to have ANL provide live evidence in the Royal Courts of Justice to hold the publisher accountable for its alleged unlawful activities.
However, she cautioned that this approach could lead to other members of the royal family being drawn into the evidential and publicity fray, possibly even being called to the witness stand.
In his court filings, Prince Harry claims that Buckingham Palace deliberately withheld information from him and Prince William about phone hacking activities. He also alleges that his private conversation with Prince William about a photograph of Princess Diana was hacked.
Melville-Brown considers it ironic that Prince Harry has implicated his brother in the case, stating that the royal family's lawyer was instructed not to involve the two princes in matters related to phone hacking.
Prince Harry is one of several high-profile individuals, including Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, and Sadie Frost, suing ANL for breach of privacy. The claimants argue that ANL engaged in "breaking and entering into private property" by employing investigators to bug homes and cars and record phone conversations.
They maintain that they were unaware of the hacking until a journalist provided them with a ledger detailing ANL's payments to these investigators, some of whom have allegedly admitted to hacking information on behalf of The Daily Mail.
