Overview

• The order requires Prince Harry, Liz Hurley, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Baroness Lawrence, Sir Simon Hughes and Sadie Frost to hand over all documents on payments, royalties or other inducements made to witnesses in their privacy claim.
• Associated Newspapers sought the disclosure to determine if financial incentives affected testimony about alleged unlawful newsgathering by the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
• The judge criticised the claimants’ “inconsistent and incoherent” approach to disclosure and mandated targeted un-redactions of ANL materials to assess journalists’ credibility.
• The lawsuit accuses 82 journalists, editors and executives of commissioning phone tapping, blagging and private investigator operations between 1993 and 2018 across 53 Mail and Mail on Sunday articles.
• A nine-week trial is set to begin on January 14, 2026 in the High Court, where both sides will contest witness credibility and the scope of UK privacy law.