[Source: Reuters]

Prince Harry’s battles with British tabloids are taking a detour from London courts to the halls of government as he seeks evidence from a decade-old inquiry that is central to his phone hacking lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, his lawyer said Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex and celebrities such as Elton John and actor Elizabeth Hurley who are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd. want to use documents that were disclosed confidentially to a government inquiry into a scandal involving journalists who eavesdropped on voicemails of celebrities, politicians and even murder victims.

An attorney for Harry and the celebrities said he would ask government ministers to revoke or amend a previous order that restricted publication of records of payments to private detectives who allegedly bugged phones and used listening devices to illegally snoop on his clients.

Earlier this month, Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the Mail’s attempt to throw out the case without trial, but also ruled the claimants could not use evidence that had been leaked from the inquiry. The judge said payment ledgers had been turned over in confidence to the Leveson inquiry and were therefore inadmissible without a change in the order restricting their release.

The lawsuit is one of several brought by Harry in his personal mission to tame the tabloids. He blames the media for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi. He also said the aggressive press led him and his wife, Meghan, to abandon their royal duties and decamp to the U.S.

It’s his third lawsuit against newspaper publishers to get the green light to go to trial on similar allegations.

Another judge is currently weighing whether to award Harry damages against the publisher of the Daily Mirror for using skulduggery to dig up dirt on his life. A similar case is to be scheduled for trial next year involving claims he and actor Hugh Grant have brought against The Sun.

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