David Furnish, the spouse of renowned British musician Elton John, testified in London’s High Court on Thursday, accusing the Daily Mail publisher of illicitly acquiring information about them, including data allegedly pilfered from their acquaintance, Prince Harry. Canadian producer Furnish, along with John and five others, is suing Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Daily Mail, over alleged privacy violations. Furnish also claimed in his testimony that the Mail publications had displayed overt homophobia towards their relationship.
Associated Newspapers refuted the accusations of phone hacking and other unlawful activities put forth by Furnish, John, and the co-claimants, asserting that the information reported in their newspapers was either already public knowledge or obtained from legitimate sources. The publisher’s legal representative, Catrin Evans, contended that the information in question might have originated from other media outlets, John’s official website, or statements issued by his spokesperson.
When Furnish appeared via video link to present his evidence, he emphasized that the details contained in the Mail articles were notably more precise. Furnish became the sixth claimant to testify in the high-profile lawsuit, following Prince Harry, actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, former politician Simon Hughes, and anti-racism advocate Doreen Lawrence. Elton John is expected to provide his testimony on the following day.
The lawsuit filed by Furnish and John revolves around ten articles published between 2002 and 2015, including a piece from 2007 in the Mail on Sunday about a commemorative concert marking the tenth anniversary of Princess Diana’s tragic passing in a car accident in 1997. Prince Harry indicated in his testimony that he believed he and John might have exchanged voicemails regarding the concert. Conversely, the Mail’s legal team contended that the information was sourced from well-connected individuals within the royal circle.
In his written statement, Furnish expressed his belief that their home’s landlines had been tapped, alleging that the Mail played a role in unlawfully obtaining information through their friendships with Elizabeth Hurley and Prince Harry. Furnish reiterated Elton John’s admiration for Prince Harry and criticized the Mail for consistently publishing biased and close-minded narratives about them. He recounted an incident from 2010 where the Mail reportedly accessed their son’s birth certificate before they had the chance to review it, describing the violation of their family’s privacy as deeply distressing.
The ongoing legal battle echoes Prince Harry’s successful lawsuit settlement in 2025 against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, which resulted in the publisher paying undisclosed damages and issuing an apology for intruding into Harry’s private life through unlawful means at The Sun tabloid and the now-defunct News of the World.
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