Publisher accused of 'wrecking lives', as string of high-profile figures mentioned in court

Prince Harry has personally attended the first day of his trial against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) at the Royal Courts of Justice in Central London.

He, along with co-claimants Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, all allege ANL had a practice of "clear systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering". Allegations range from tapping their phones and bugging their homes to obtaining medical records by deception.

ANL strongly denies any wrongdoing. Monday saw the opening arguments from the claimants - all represented by barrister David Sherborne - who said the publisher "knew they had skeletons in their closet," telling the court the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday were engaged in unlawful information-gathering (UIG) over "at least two decades".

He also said ANL's denials of unlawful acts to the Leveson Inquiry in 2011 were "not true". In written submissions, Mr Sherborne said alleged unlawful acts "range through a period from 1993 to 2011, even continuing beyond until 2018." Written submissions from the claimants accused the publisher of having a "culture of unlawful information gathering that wrecked the lives of so many".

Analysis: His biggest case against the press - and the stakes are high Along with stories about the seven claimants, articles about other high-profile figures, including former home secretary David Blunkett, comedian Ronnie Barker's son, actress Billie Piper and her ex-husband Chris Evans and Tony Blair's son, Euan, were also brought up in court. Documents released by the court showed that ANL journalists had spent well in excess of £3m on private investigators in the relevant period, including thousands of pounds paid to a "talented" voice actor, known as a "blagger" (someone, often a private investigator, who obtains private, confidential information by deception).

Prince Harry left 'paranoid' and 'isolated,' court hears Prince Harry's case is based on 14 articles, published between 2001 and 2013, including several articles about his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and another about the princes' distress over photos of their late mother, Princess Diana, in her final moments, published in an Italian magazine. Mr Sherborne said: "It is evident from the articles and the evidence of the Duke of Sussex that the targeting of him has had a profoundly distressing effect".

He said episodes of pleaded unlawful information gathering were described by the royal as "disturbing to feel that my every move, thought or feeling was being tracked and monitored just for the Mail to make money out of it.