Prince Harry’s legal team has accused the Daily Mail’s publisher of “drip feeding” sensitive information to the press ahead of his upcoming libel trial.
The Duke of Sussex and six others are suing Associated Newspapers Limited, alleging the company used private investigators to bug cars, “blag” records, and access private calls.
The High Court heard both sides are awaiting information to prepare their case.
Associated Newspapers Limited has rejected all allegations, calling the claims “simply preposterous.”
In written submissions, Antony White KC, for ANL, said: “Since the October case management conference, the claimants have continued to ‘drip-feed’ disclosure, including manifestly incomplete but nevertheless highly significant documentation from early 2016.”
David Sherborne, representing the claimants, said several key witness statements are still missing and requested that 36 more boxes of evidence be reviewed, in addition to the 11 already examined.
In his submission, he revealed, “The defendant refuses to search any of these boxes, essentially on the basis that the process of reviewing the boxes was time-consuming.”
Sherbone added, “The drip-feed of disclosure by the defendant from crown archive demonstrates a fundamental failure to carry out proper searches.”
He continued, “The defendant has repeatedly said to the court that it has carried out thorough and ‘generous’ disclosure, but this is plainly not the case.”
The court agreed on Monday, to search 12 boxes, limited to those with codes matching previously identified relevant documents.
Notably, the decision came before the start of a two-day preliminary hearing for the trial, which is expected in January.
