Prince Harry Returns to London for Court Case Against Tabloid Publisher

Prince Harry is back in England.

The Duke of Sussex arrived at London's High Court on March 27 for a hearing in his case against Associated Newspapers. Harry's outing would seemingly be the first time he's returned to the U.K. after the passing of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022.

Last October, the 38-year-old—along with other celebs including Elton John and his husband David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon—launched lawsuits against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of British tabloids Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.

According to court documents obtained by Variety at the time, three separate lawsuits were filed against the company in London's High Court by Gunnercooke, who represent Elton and Furnish, Elizabeth and Lawrence. Prince Harry and Sadie's law firm also confirmed to the outlet that legal action "has been launched."
 
Harry and Frost's law firm also previously noted of the lawsuits that these "individuals have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers," as stated in a press release shared to E! News.

As for the "criminal activity," the press release accused the publisher of "hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside people's cars and homes, commissioning of individuals to listen into and record people's telephone calls," as well as "the payment of police officials, with corrupt links to private investigators, for inside, sensitive information."

In response, an Associated Newspapers spokesperson has denied the claims brought against the company.

"We utterly and unambiguously refute these preposterous smears which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30 years old," their statement shared to E! News on Oct. 6 read. "These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims—based on no credible evidence—appear to be simply a fishing expedition by claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere."

This isn't the first lawsuit Prince Harry has brought forth against a tabloid belonging to the publisher. He currently has an ongoing defamation case against the Mail on Sunday.