Lawyers for Prince Harry attempting to involve Rupert Murdoch in UK court dispute

Prince Harry’s lawyers and others are trying to change their lawsuit in London against Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid newspapers. They want to say that the media mogul was part of a cover-up of bad behavior.

Harry and over 40 other people are taking legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) because they think the Sun and the News of the World invaded their privacy unlawfully from the mid-1990s to 2016.

Other people who are also claiming money include British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, actor Hugh Grant, and some former important politicians. Doreen Lawrence is also part of another case against the company that prints the Daily Mail newspaper, along with Harry.

The trial for the case against NGN will start in January and could last up to eight weeks.

On Wednesday, the claimants’ lawyers asked Judge Timothy Fancourt for permission to add new accusations to their case against NGN. They want to say that senior executives gave incorrect information to parliament and a public inquiry.

Murdoch, who is 93 years old, is accused of giving false information on purpose. Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News UK, is also accused of lying or giving misleading information during her trial in 2014.

The people making the claim said that Will Lewis, who used to work for News International and now works for the Washington Post, was also involved in hiding the truth.

A person from NGN said that the people making accusations against NGN staff are being dishonest and trying to harm their reputation.

“These claims are not about getting money for people who were victims of hacking or getting information illegally. Be very careful when thinking about them,” said the spokesperson.

NGN’s lawyers said the new accusations, which included 200 new journalists, executives, and private investigators, were not needed, too much, and not related.

“It is becoming more obvious that some people in the claimant group are using this document to campaign against tabloid newspapers,” said Anthony Hudson, the lawyer for NGN, in court.

Hudson said in legal documents that accusations against Brooks and others would make NGN have to redo criminal trials or investigate the investigation.

Old accusations

In 2011, NGN said sorry for lots of journalists at the News of the World hacking phones. The owner, Murdoch, who was born in Australia, closed the newspaper because of the angry reaction.

NGN has solved over 1,300 complaints, but the group has always said that the staff at the Sun did not do anything wrong. Brooks, a person who used to be in charge of a newspaper, was found not guilty of hacking and other crimes after a long trial in 2014.

David Sherborne, the lawyer for Harry and the other people suing, said in court that both Murdoch and Brooks knew that the original statement from NGN, saying only one reporter was breaking the law, was not true.

Get all the important news about the Royal Family in one place.

They and other leaders were not honest when they made these statements because they knew they were not true at the time.

NGN’s Hudson said the changed claims were based on old documents, and in the past versions, Murdoch was only mentioned briefly with no accusations against him.

The people suing also said they want to use evidence from a former IT worker. They believe that Brooks’ computer hard drive was hidden and maybe broken on purpose in 2011 to hide her involvement in something wrong.

The court will listen to Harry’s request to change his case for the next two days. They will decide later if they can include the new accusations.