Getty ImagesPrince Harry's lawyers have claimed that The Sun illegally targeted Meghan Markle via a private investigator.
The Duke of Sussex's lawyers told the High Court that the investigator provided information in 2016 for two stories about the future Duchess of Sussex.
These stories were published shortly after the relationship between Prince Harry and Ms. Markle began.
News Group Newspapers (NGN), which owns The Sun, denies the allegations and has set a trial date for January 2025.
On the second day of a three-day hearing in Prince Harry's battle to sue NGN, the Duke's lawyers also alleged that the company paid investigators to intercept landline calls related to the Duke.
Last year, the High Court ruled that Prince Harry had run out of time to bring a case against the owner of The Sun newspaper Phone hacking.
However, his broader allegations of illegal information gathering by other means are likely to go to trial in January.
Average access pointBefore that, A A High Court judge must decide whether the Duke can add to his set of claims.
Prince Harry's lawyers are seeking permission to update parts of his case, but NGN's lawyers said the changes to the claims were “completely unnecessary”.
Court papers released on Thursday show that Prince Harry now wants to sue more than 235 stories that appeared in the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World newspaper.
His earliest date was when he was nine years old, in 1994, and the last two items relate to the early days of his relationship with Ms Markle in 2016.
“The defeated prince”
The court was told that the last two stories related to alleged confessions from a US private investigator, which were first provided to the BBC in 2021.
Dano Hanks told the BBC He obtained detailed private information about Ms. Markle Including her Social Security number and her mobile phone number, she compiled a dossier of facts about her life for The Sun.
At the time, The Sun said it had only requested legitimate research and had instructed Mr Hanks to act within the law.
The Sun said that at no time did it ask Mr. Hanks for her Social Security number, nor did it use the information he provided for any illegal practice.
Legal papers in the case say the Sun used information provided by Mr. Hanks in two stories about the new couple.
One story stated that the “infatuated” prince bombarded Mrs Markle with text messages at the time.
“On 31 October and 1 November 2016, The Sun published two articles by Emily Andrews and James Bell regarding the claimant’s relationship with Meghan Markle,” the High Court was told in written submissions.
“Plaintiff will assert that in late October 2016, Defendant (through journalist James Bell) instructed US private investigator, Dano Hanks… to obtain private information in the form of a report on Plaintiff's new relationship with his current wife. . . .
“It can be inferred that the Duchess's mobile phone number obtained by Mr Hanks…was then used to obtain private information about repeated text messages between the plaintiff and the Duchess.”
ReutersIt has also emerged that while the Duke cannot sue over the mobile phone hacking, he now wants to seek damages for the alleged interception of landline calls “including by use of scanning and bug-setting devices”.
In written submissions, Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said the duke's new claims should be rejected by the judge because they were “completely different” to his original claims.
He said that the allegations related to Ms. Markle's two articles could not be considered because they related to American law.
Other allegations lack any supporting evidence that journalists were involved in wrongdoing.
The hearing continues Friday, and Judge Fancourt is expected to rule later on what will be included in the trial next January.
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