Prince Harry, Elton John, and other celebrities allege the Daily Mail publisher has been listening in on their phone calls in new lawsuit

Sir Elton John and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the 2018 International AIDS Conference on July 24, 2018 in Amsterdam, NetherlandsPhoto by Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images A group of British plaintiffs are suing the Daily Mail’s publisher over privacy breaches. The group alleges the company listened in on their phone calls and accessed their personal information. Several of the plaintiffs have longstanding, acrimonious relationships with the UK tabloids.

Prince Harry, Elton John, and several other high-profile Brits are suing the publisher of The Daily Mail, accusing the company of installing listening devices in plaintiffs’ homes and cars among other breaches of privacy, a law firm representing the group said Thursday. Associated Newspapers, the company that owns The Daily Mail tabloids, refuted the accusations in a statement to Insider, calling the allegations “preposterous smears. “”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,” a spokesperson for the newspapers group said.

 Actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, along with Elton John’s partner David Furnish, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, whose teenage son was murdered in a racist attack in 1993, are also suing the company. The Daily Mail launched a media campaign to bring Lawrence’s son’s murderers to justice following his death. On Thursday, the law firm Hamlins, which is representing Prince Harry and Frost, released a statement saying the plaintiffs were victims of “abhorrent criminal activity.

“The lawsuit, according to BBC News , alleges that Associated Newspapers hired private investigators to covertly put listening devices in people’s houses and vehicles; paid people to listen in on and recorded individuals’ private phone calls in real time; paid police officials for sensitive information; impersonated people to obtain their private medical information; and accessed their bank accounts and credit histories through illegal means. “The UK law firm Gunnercooke is representing John, Furnish, Lawrence, and Hurley, the statement said. “They have now therefore banded together to uncover the truth, and to hold the journalists responsible fully accountable, many of whom still hold senior positions of authority and power today,” the Hamlins press release said.

Several of the plaintiffs have longstanding, acrimonious relationships with the UK tabloids. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle cut off all engagement with four major British newspapers following their 2018 marriage, including Daily Mail, accusing the outlet of inaccurate reporting.  The accusations come more than a decade after Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World newspaper was shuttered following a yearslong investigation into the tabloid’s journalistic practices.

The probes found that the paper had hacked the phones of several subjects, including celebrities, members of the royal family, and crime victims.  Read the original article on Insider.