David Furnish, the spouse of British musician Elton John, testified in London’s High Court that the Daily Mail publisher had illegally obtained personal information about them, including details allegedly taken from their friend, Prince Harry. Furnish, a Canadian producer and one of seven individuals suing Associated Newspapers for privacy violations, also claimed that the Mail publications had shown bias against their relationship.
Associated Newspapers refuted the accusations of phone hacking and other unlawful activities made by Furnish, John, and the other claimants, asserting that the information reported in their newspapers was either already public knowledge or obtained from legitimate sources. The publisher’s lawyer, Catrin Evans, suggested that the information in question could have originated from other media sources, John’s official website, or statements from his spokesperson.
During his video testimony, Furnish emphasized that the details disclosed in the Mail articles were significantly more specific than what could have been gathered from publicly available sources. This case is part of a lawsuit involving ten articles published between 2002 and 2015, including a 2007 story in the Mail on Sunday concerning a tribute concert for the late Princess Diana, Harry’s mother.
Furnish alleged in his written statement that they suspected their home’s phone lines were tapped and blamed the Mail for the unauthorized acquisition of information through their connections with Elizabeth Hurley and Prince Harry. He expressed Elton John’s admiration for Prince Harry and criticized the Mail for publishing what he described as judgmental and narrow-minded stories about their lives.
In reference to an article from 2010 regarding their surrogacy journey, Furnish revealed that the Mail obtained their son’s birth certificate before they had the chance to see it themselves, a situation he found deeply troubling. He condemned the violation of their family’s privacy and the alleged intrusion into their personal lives.
Prince Harry settled a separate lawsuit in 2025 with Rupert Murdoch’s News Groups Newspapers, receiving undisclosed damages and an apology for the invasion of his privacy through unlawful means by The Sun tabloid and the now-defunct News of the World.
Elton John is scheduled to provide his testimony on Friday in the ongoing high-profile trial.