Prince Harry gets OK to use key evidence in phone hacking case against Daily Mail publisher
Prince Harry has scored a tactical victory in his battles with British tabloids
LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry scored a tactical victory in his battles with British tabloids Friday when government ministers said he could use confidential documents that show payments by the publisher of the Daily Mail to private investigators who allegedly snooped on him and several celebrities.
The Duke of Sussex, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and others claim that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hacked their phones or used other unlawful means, such as bugging and other electronic surveillance to spy on them.
Justice Matthew Nicklin in November had rejected the newspapers' effort to throw out the case, but his ruling also dealt a blow to Harry and the others.
Ledgers showing payments to private eyes that had been leaked to Harry's legal team from a government inquiry into phone hacking could only be used with the newspapers' permission or by an order from the judge who oversaw the 2011-12 probe or the government ministers who had ordered the inquiry, Nicklin said.
Associated Newspapers, which firmly denies the allegations and called them preposterous, refused to turn over the documents and opposed the government releasing them.
In a joint statement Friday by the home and culture secretaries — the departments that had ordered the Leveson Inquiry into press standards — said the documents could be used in the court case.
“In our judgment, the public interest in promoting the just, speedy and economic resolution of the proceedings outweighs the countervailing public interests,” the statement said.
Associated Newspapers said it would not comment on the decision.
The development comes as Harry's flurry of litigation is winding down with
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