Prince Harry v Daily Mail live: Elton John's 'ambulance dash' article discussed as husband gives evidence against Mail publisher

Thanks for following our live coverage as David Furnish gave evidence against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper.

Furnish told the court that stories that appeared in the Daily Mail about the life of him and his husband contained medical information gathered unlawfully.

Furnish appeared in court remotely, with Sir Elton listening to his husband's evidence in the court's online stream.

We'll be back tomorrow to hear Sir Elton's evidence. Until then, here's a rundown of some of today's key moments:

• Furnish said he and Sir Elton were confused when articles about their personal lives were emerging and "assumed it was a leak";
• He said he is usually "very guarded" about speaking to people in public, "especially" if they are a journalist;
• Furnish claimed sensitive medical information that had not been publicly available about Sir Elton made its way into Daily Mail stories;
• He suggested Sir Elton's former PR chief, Gary Farrow, had given "incorrect information" about the couple to journalists.

By Katie Spencer, arts and entertainment editor

Sir Elton John's husband, David Furnish, explained the couple's claim in the case against the Daily Mail publisher during his short time on the witness stand this afternoon.

One of the articles in question is from 30 December 2010 and has the headline "Elton: I'm the daddy". 

Not only do the couple point out in their witness statements that this was quite homophobic in tone, they've said they were shocked at how the Daily Mail had been able to obtain a copy of their son's birth certificate for the piece before they did, and they're convinced that was done through blagging - in other words someone pretending to be either them or someone close to them. 

The Mail claims the article's writer telephoned the local registrar's office and introduced himself as a journalist. 

At the time, there was intense interest in what was going on.

The couple had been very open about their intention to have children. Two married men having a baby via surrogacy was still relatively new in the mainstream conversation.

For a lot of media outlets, it was framed as a "first". This was during a period when debates over same-sex marriage, adoption and family structures made front-page news.

That openness invited attention, and Furnish explained his approach to dealing with that and why the couple chose to sell their first baby photos to another outlet in court.

"We had a very carefully planned media strategy," he said. "We chose publications who would pay us a substantial amount of money which we gave to our AIDS foundation."

With 15 to 20 cars parked outside their apartment, he said, they hoped to "take the money out of the market" for that first photo.

The point being they wanted their own charity to profit from that interest so they weren't giving information out to journalists freely.

David Furnish finishes giving evidence.

Sir Elton John, who has been listening to his husband speaking on the livestream from court, will give his evidence tomorrow, the judge confirms.

David Furnish is asked about his relationship with journalists.

"I don't go around to cocktail parties and gab to journalists, I try and avoid them at all costs," he says.

Furnish says he's usually "very guarded" about what he says in public, "especially if I know they are a journalist".

He adds: "The way those people work, sometimes if you are harsh or cut them off, then there's a danger they write something about you being badly behaved or unpleasant.

"You master the art of saying nothing, being polite and exiting the situation without giving them anything substantial."

He adds: "I've never been someone who has courted the press."

It's put to David Furnish that sensitive information about Sir Elton John's medical records was already publicly available due to statements from the couple's former long-time spokesperson, Gary Farrow.

One of the articles Furnish has complained about concerns Sir Elton's trip to a Monaco hospital via ambulance, which suggested Furnish was not at the hospital.

"It's not correct information he's providing," Furnish says, adding that he was in the ambulance with Sir Elton.

"It feels like PR spin to me, it's not exactly what Elton was dealing with and the circumstances he's dealing with."

David Furnish is asked about an article in the Daily Mail with the headline "Girl about town: Elton in Monaco ambulance dash", published in August 2015.

The couple allege it contained "unlawfully obtained medical information" about his admission to hospital in Monaco.

The lawyer puts it to him that the article first emerged in a French magazine, published on 31 July 2015, before the article they are complaining about.

David Furnish is asked about an article published in 2009 in the Daily Mail about Sir Elton John cancelling tour dates due to medical concerns.

It is alleged the article contained unlawfully obtained medical information about Sir Elton. 

The lawyer put it to Furnish that much of the information in the article was already released by Sir Elton's spokesperson and came from information on his official website.

Furnish responds: "The information in the article of concern to us was that of the treatment Elton undertook.

"When you cancel show dates you want to give fans reassurance, but you don't want 100% medically.

"What Elton was dealing with was far more serious than a bacterial infection or influenza."

Furnish says the information in the article that Sir Elton had a "series of scans and x-rays" was "concerning".  

David Furnish is giving evidence, answering questions put to him by Catrin Evans KC, for Associated Newspapers, via videolink rather than in the High Court.

He is being asked about articles published in the Daily Mail concerning his personal life and that of his husband, Sir Elton John.

He says the pair were confused about how stories about their lives were emerging.

"We might talk about it amongst ourselves and wonder, 'Where did that come from?', but we had no way of knowing," he says.

"We just assumed it was a leak."

Welcome back to our live coverage of the trial against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail newspaper, over alleged unlawful information gathering dating back 30 years.

Sir Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, are giving evidence this afternoon via video link.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest from the High Court.

We're pausing our live coverage of the trial against the publishers of the Daily Mail newspaper over alleged unlawful information gathering dating back 30 years.

Today, Baroness Doreen Lawrence gave evidence for around an hour at the High Court.

If you're just catching up with our coverage, here's a round-up of what she said:

• Baroness Lawrence told the court she "was not in conversation" with the Daily Mail before, during or after her son's inquest despite articles being published;
• She insisted she doesn't conduct interviews over the phone, and "personally was not speaking" when articles were published in 1997;
• Baroness Lawrence also explained how she would have a meeting with the police one day, and read an article the following day, claiming "a lot of these things are leaked by the police";
• She also insisted she "knew nothing" about press reform campaign group Hacked Off;
• As she finished her evidence, Baroness Lawrence said "they were playing me", adding "I've never been able to grieve for my son properly".

We'll be back with more coverage for any further breaking news lines.