Baroness Doreen Lawrence told the BBC that Prince Harry contacted her to say he had uncovered evidence she had been spied on by the Daily Mail, marking her first public account of the allegation as she pursues a High Court case against the paper’s publisher.
Baroness Lawrence said she was "floored" and in disbelief when the prince told her "he had information I would want to know" and that her name had appeared during his own investigations into alleged press wrongdoing. She later met lawyers who told her she had been spied on and is now among claimants suing Associated Newspapers over what they allege were illicit newsgathering practices.
The legal claims against Associated Newspapers include allegations that private investigators working for the Daily Mail tapped Baroness Lawrence’s home phone, hacked voicemails and commissioned investigators to monitor her bank accounts and phone bills. Associated Newspapers has repeatedly denied that its journalists commissioned or obtained information from phone-hacking, phone-tapping, bugging, computer or email-hacking or burglary, calling the claims "preposterous smears" and saying it has filed a "trenchant defence of its journalism".
The publisher has argued that many of the stories at issue were published more than 20 years ago, were not the subject of complaints at the time and were based on responsible journalism and legitimate sources. The company failed in its attempt to have the claim struck out and the matter is due to be heard in the High Court in January.
Baroness Lawrence, whose son Stephen was 18 when he was fatally stabbed in a racist attack in Eltham, southeast London, said she could not understand why anyone would try to listen to her calls or hack her phone while she had been working for justice for her son. "Why would anybody want to be listening to my calls, hacking into my phone? All I'm trying to do over the years, is to try and get justice for my son," she told the BBC.
She said the involvement in the litigation of well-known figures such as Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and others had made it "a bit daunting" but that she believed there was a clear "case to answer". Other co-claimants named in filings include Elton John’s husband David Furnish, actors Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, and former Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes.
Baroness Lawrence also described a sense of betrayal, noting that she had previously trusted the Daily Mail. The paper campaigned on the Lawrence family’s behalf in the 1990s and ran a prominent front page in 1997 naming five prime suspects in Stephen’s murder. "I thought it wanted to fight for the rights of Stephen," she said, adding that her trust had now been "completely broken" and that she wanted a public apology for the trauma she says the alleged actions have caused her family.
Prince Harry has previously pursued legal action against other newspaper groups and has been successful in some cases, prompting renewed scrutiny of press practices and the methods used to gather material for stories. In court filings, Associated Newspapers has maintained its defence and denied under oath that the information it published was derived from unlawful interception or other illicit activity.
The claim, lodged in 2022, centers on allegations stretching back two decades and is one of several high-profile legal actions against British publishers over the past 15 years relating to phone-hacking and unlawful newsgathering. The High Court hearing in January will determine whether the claimants can prove the publisher’s involvement in the alleged activities and will consider the publisher’s denials and its argument that reporting relied on legitimate sources.
Lawyers for the claimants have said they will press the case at trial, while Associated Newspapers has said it stands by its previous statements that the claims are without foundation. The outcome of the January hearing will set the timetable for whether the case proceeds to a full trial and could determine whether the claimants are entitled to remedies including damages and an apology.
Baroness Lawrence said the family has endured extensive pain since Stephen’s murder and that any further intrusion by the press had added to that trauma. She said she hoped the legal process would lead to accountability and an acknowledgment from the newspaper she once trusted.