Stephen Lawrence’s mother in ‘disbelief’ after Harry text about alleged hacking

Stephen Lawrence’s mother said she felt “disbelief” when she was contacted by the Duke of Sussex over evidence her phone allegedly had been hacked by the Daily Mail.

Speaking to the BBC, Baroness Doreen Lawrence said Harry had contacted her after her name “kept cropping up” while the duke was looking at his own legal case against the publisher of the paper.

The mother of teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in 1993 by a gang of racists, is one of a group of high-profile individuals, including the duke, suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for alleged misuse of private information.

ANL has denied the allegations, is defending itself in the High Court and has described the claims as “lurid” and “simply preposterous”.

Asked how she became involved in the legal case, Lady Lawrence told the BBC: “It was a contact from Prince Harry.

“He was, I presume, looking at his own case and then my name kept cropping up, and so he felt that I should know about it.”

Asked how she felt at that moment, she said: “I think the moment was disbelief that why would anybody want to be listening to my calls, hacking into my phone?

“It just floors you, because you don’t expect that, but not somebody like me anyway.

“You know, all I’m trying to do over the years is just to try and get justice for my son.”

The campaigner said she would like to see a public apology from the Daily Mail over the allegations and said the paper had “added to the trauma” her family has gone through.

The claimants, which include actress Liz Hurley, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, have accused the publisher of conducting or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to tap phones, “blagging” private records, and burglaries to order.

ANL is defending the legal action, with cost budgets for both sides combined totalling more than £38 million.

The High Court previously heard Lady Lawrence had been “alerted” to a potential legal claim against the Daily Mail’s publisher by a text from the Harry.

In July, a High Court judge said Harry must hand over documents that relate to alleged payments made for evidence in his legal claim.

A trial of the claims is expected to start in January and last for nine weeks.

ANL has been contacted for comment.