**ELIZABETH HURLEY DESCRIBES "MONSTROUS" PRIVACY INVASION BY DAILY MAIL**

Supermodel and actress Elizabeth Hurley took the stand in a British media hacking case on Thursday, accusing the publisher of the Daily Mail of invading her privacy with "monstrous" methods. The lawsuit, which includes co-claimants Prince Harry and Elton John, alleges that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hired private investigators to unlawfully snoop on them over two decades.

Hurley described the experience as feeling like having someone peering into her life and home, saying "it makes me feel as if my private life had been violated by violent intruders — that there had been sinister thieves in my home all along and that I had been living with them completely unaware."

The model and actor was the second witness to testify in the nine-week trial at London's High Court, which began after Prince Harry showed his support for Hurley's testimony. The prince had choked up in court a day earlier as he spoke about the emotional toll of battling against the British media on himself and his family.

Associated Newspapers Ltd., the publisher of the Daily Mail, denies the claims, calling them "preposterous". They state that the articles were reported based on legitimate sources, and many will be named by employees at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday in the company's defense during the trial.

**HURLEY'S TESTIMONY**

Hurley revealed that she was unaware of similar allegations against the Mail until 2020, when she was told that Gavin Burrows, a former private eye, had supposedly stolen her information at the behest of the newspapers. However, Burrows has since disavowed this statement and said he never worked for the Mail.

The actress claims that 15 articles about her between 2002 and 2011 relied on unlawful information-gathering, including several about the birth of her son Damian in 2002 and the subsequent paternity fight with his father, late film producer Steve Bing. "The Mail's unlawful acts against me involve landline tapping my phones and recording my live telephone conversations, placing surreptitious mics on my home windows, stealing my medical information when I was pregnant with Damian, and other monstrous, staggering things," Hurley said.

The model expressed concern that her son, now a model and actor himself, would see the articles one day. "I felt really mortified that my son would be able to read all this stuff one day, and I feel really bad that that day is today when all this stuff is being regurgitated," she said, becoming upset as she was shown some of those articles in court.

Hurley emphasized the widespread invasion of privacy, stating "yet again, everyone's privacy is being invaded in this terrible way, and I feel very helpless about that."

**CASE BACKGROUND**

This lawsuit involves Prince Harry, Elton John, and four other individuals who allege that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hired private investigators to unlawfully snoop on them over two decades.

The trial is ongoing at London's High Court, with the publisher denying the claims and stating that the articles were reported based on legitimate sources.