Prince Harry's privacy suit against UK tabloid could drag royals to court

Prince Harry's privacy case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) will likely go to trial and this could force members of the royal family to the witness box, according to defamation lawyer Amber Melville-Brown, of international law firm Withers.

She called it "highly likely" that London's High Court would greenlight a trial against ANL, the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, despite the company's request for the case to be dropped on the grounds that the allegations are too old, with some dating back to 1993, and that the case was not filed within a six-year limitation period.

"It seems to me highly likely that the summary judgment application will not succeed and that this will, at the very least, be green-lit for trial. How far down the road to trial this litigation juggernaut continues remains to be seen," she told Newsweek.

Melville-Brown added, "Harry's hoped-for destination may be to bring ANL to give live evidence in the Royal Courts of Justice to bring it to justice for what he argues are its unlawful activities."

However, in doing so, she fears that members of the royal family would have to be questioned on the suit given the duke's allegations that Buckingham Palace kept information from him about the phone hacking activities. She warned that it could be "conceivable that other members of the Royal Family will be dragged along in its wake into the evidential and publicity fray, and even into the witness box."

In court documents, the 38-year-old claimed that "the institution made it clear" that he and Prince William "did not need to know anything about phone hacking" and that it was "made clear" to him that "the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box, because that could open up a can of worms."

He wrote in his witness statement that despite his "uneasy relationship with the press" as a "member of the Institution, he "was conditioned to accept" the royal policy of "never complain, never explain" and that "there was no alternative" to it. Prince Harry also claimed his private conversation with Prince William was hacked, in which they talked about a photo of Princess Diana dying being in the public domain.

Melville-Brown called it "ironic" that Prince Harry included his brother by referring to messages Prince William left for him, which he alleged was "accessed and published." She also called it ironic that the duke claimed the royal family's lawyer "was clearly getting instructions from within the Institution not to involve" himself or his brother about phone hacking done by the now-defunct News of the World.

"For many a claimant, even one intent on pursuing justice, this may be their worst nightmare. But would it perhaps be more of a dream result for Harry?" she said adding, "He is after all, fighting on two fronts against what appear to be his most favorite nemeses, the tabloid press and 'the Institution,' as he insists on referring to his family. In this fight, no less than any others he has launched against them, it seems that he is not pulling any punches."

Prince Harry, Elton John, his husband David Furnish, and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost are suing ANL for breach of privacy. They claimed the publisher instigated "breaking and entering into private property" by hiring investigators to bug homes and cars and record phone conversations. They claimed they were in the dark about the hacking until recently when a journalist provided them a ledger that showed how much ANL pays these investigators, who some have reportedly also admitted to hacking information on behalf of The Daily Mail.