Harry,
the younger son of King Charles, and six others including singer Elton
John are suing Associated Newspapers (ANL) over alleged unlawful
information gathering dating back 30 years.
ANL,
which also publishes the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline, has always
denied any wrongdoing and previously described the claimants'
allegations as "preposterous smears".
The
claimants' lawyers had sought to amend their case to add a swathe of
new allegations for the trial, which is due to begin early next year and
could see Harry return to the witness box in his last remaining lawsuit
against the British press.
They argued last week
that they should be allowed to rely on evidence that they said showed
the Mail was involved in targeting Kate. Her husband William is the heir
to the throne and Harry's elder brother.
Judge
Matthew Nicklin ruled however that the allegation that Kate was
targeted by a private investigator on behalf of a Mail journalist was
brought too late before trial.
In
court filings, the claimants' legal team also made allegations for the
first time that details about William's 21st birthday party in 2003 were
obtained by "blagging" – obtaining confidential details about him by
deception.
The
claimants had not sought to add that allegation to their case and it
was not ruled upon by the judge. In separate litigation, lawyers have
said William and Kate had their mobile phones hacked on behalf of
journalists, and William privately settled a claim against Rupert Murdoch's newspaper arm
ANL
was also able to throw out some parts of the claimants' case, with
Nicklin saying he would reject irrelevant allegations to stop the case
"descending into an uncontrolled and wide-ranging investigation akin to a
public inquiry".
But some of ANL's objections on the grounds the claimants were relying on findings from lawsuits against Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) and the publisher of the Daily Mirror were also refused by the judge.
A
source familiar with the litigation said the claimants would seek
permission to appeal against Friday's ruling. ANL declined to comment.
Reporting by Sam Tobin and Michael Holden Editing by Frances Kerry
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