The Duke of Sussex and other celebrity claimants accusing the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday of unlawful information gathering are "clutching at straws", a court has heard.
Prince Harry is among seven high-profile claimants including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley alleging Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) committed "grave breaches of privacy" over a 20-year period.
Defending the publisher, Antony White KC argued the reporters behind the stories had provided a "compelling account of a pattern of legitimate sourcing of articles".
White says in written submissions that the celebrities had "leaky" social circles and that a "pattern of misconduct is simply not made out.
The claimants have accused the publisher of "clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering" for stories between 1993 and "beyond" 2018, including through private investigators and blagging.
In their joint opening statement on Monday, they accused a string of senior Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists of being "engaged in or complicit in the culture of unlawful information gathering that wrecked the lives of so many". ANL has denied all wrongdoing.
Source: BBC
