William’s 21st birthday party may have been ‘blagging’ target, High Court told

Information about the Prince of Wales’s 21st birthday party could have been “blagged” by a private investigator, it has been claimed at the High Court.

The Duke of Sussex is one of a group of seven high-profile individuals bringing legal action against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

The group, also including Sir Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Liz Hurley, have accused the publisher of allegedly carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records, commissioning burglary to order, and accessing private phone conversations.

ANL firmly denies the allegations and is defending the legal action, previously describing the claims as “lurid” and “simply preposterous”.

At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, lawyers for the group and the publisher returned to the High Court in London ahead of an expected trial in January 2026.

David Sherborne, for the group of high-profile individuals, said in written submissions that invoices were disclosed on September 24, including one related to the Prince of Wales.

The invoice, dated August 25 2003, was entitled “Out of Africa Story Royal Party Enqs”, the barrister continued.

Mr Sherborne claimed that this invoice was linked to a Daily Mail story from June 2003, with “extensive” details about William’s 21st birthday party which had an “out of Africa” theme, the day before the party was due to take place.

“It can be inferred… that information for the article was obtained through blagging,” Mr Sherborne continued.

The claims were made in a document dated September 30, after ANL had provided its written arguments to the High Court.

Mr Sherborne also told the court that a record from a different private investigator allegedly shows a journalist commissioning him to provide a “mobile phone conversion” related to the Princess of Wales, as well as phone numbers from a “family and friends” list.

According to the document, lawyers for ANL are said to have said this proposed amendment is “very late”, with part of it previously reported in 2012.

Wednesday’s hearing included a bid by ANL to have parts of the cases thrown out, with Mr Sherborne saying that with the exception of one part, ANL’s bid to throw out elements of their claims is “unreasonably and unfairly late” and should be dismissed.

Harry was understood to be dialling in to Wednesday’s hearing in London using a remote link, and one user with the name “Prince Harry” could be seen.

Issues with the audio quality on the remote link were reported by the user and others during the morning, while actress Sadie Frost and David Furnish, who are also bringing legal action, attended the hearing in person.

Antony White KC, for ANL, said in written submissions that lawyers for the group of high-profile individuals had made “wholly unparticularised” allegations of unlawful information gathering (UIG) that should not proceed to the trial.

He said: “Unparticularised general allegations of UIG, particularly where these involve other journalists, or ANL more generally, will not be of assistance to the court in determining the claimants’ individual claims.”

The barrister said that “only clearly pleaded specific instances of alleged UIG against journalists involved in the articles complained of in the claimants’ individual cases” should remain in the case, adding: “This will allow a trial of clearly identified factual issues to take place in a fair and proportionate manner.”

Mr White later said that allegations related to journalists or third-party investigators at other newspaper groups are “irrelevant”.

He added: “In several instances, it is unclear if the relevant targeting is even said to have been done on behalf of ANL, because the pleading is rolled up with an allegation that the relevant journalist worked at Mirror Group Newspapers and/or News Group Newspapers.”

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude on Thursday, with a decision expected at a later date.