Sophie Dahl and husband Jamie Cullum have launched a privacy legal action against the Mail on Sunday over a story about their wedding plans.
The couple are demanding up to £250,000 from publishers Associated Newspapers claiming breach of confidence and misuse of private information.
The pair claimed they were forced to change their plans and spend an extra £5,000 on security after the newspaper revealed details of their original wedding.
According to a writ filed at the High Court, the story headed ‘A Wedding wonderland for Sophie and Jamie’included confidential information about their wedding arrangements including location, guest lists, Cullum’s plans to serenade his bride with a specially written song, and an alleged disagreements between Dahl and her mother.
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Dahl and Cullum, who instructed solicitors Harbottle and Lewis to act on their behalf, have accused the Mail on Sunday of unlawfully infringing their right to privacy and respect for their private and family lives, and of misusing private information.
Following publication of the story, the couple claim, they were forced to move their wedding forward to avoid a media circus.
According to the writ, Dahl and Cullum said they are not public figures in any real sense, as they do not hold public office, and are known for not seeking publicity for their private and family lives.
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The pair took considerable steps to ensure their wedding would be private, they claimed, choosing a secluded venue, asking guests to keep it secret, arranging security to prevent intrusion by paparazzi or uninvited guests, and by banning the use of cameras at the service.
The newspaper, the writ claims, knew the information was private and attributed much of it to an unnamed source close to the couple and referred to the fact that they were ‘trying to keep everything under wraps”.
Dahl and Cullum contend that they had complained about an earlier Mail on Sunday story about them and their solicitor had asked the paper to note that their wedding was going to be private.
Their lawyers then emailed the paper in December telling the paper that disclosing details of their wedding would be a clear breach of their privacy.
The couple seek damages and aggravated damages from the Mail on Sunday and an injunction banning repetition of the information they say is private.
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