Elizabeth Davidson reports on the memorable libel cases of the past and asks what can we expect in the future.
Nothing captures the public's imagination like a libel trial.
Salacious, sleazy, scurrilous. The lives of the rich and famous are prised apart, scrutinised under the microscope and then reported in far greater detail than the original story that prompted the litigation in the first place. The latter half of the 20th century has been an extraordinary period for libel actions. The list of memorable cases is endless. This week, in Court 13 of the Royal Courts of Justice, Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods, and Neil Hamilton, the disgraced ex-Tory MP, are waging war over allegations that Hamilton took cash from Al Fayed in return for asking questions in Parliament.