But she attempted to turn the table on Frederick and Amanda by arguing that the video was an invasion of Alistair’s privacy.
In response to a court application made earlier this month to release the video to the media, she said Alistair was captured on a secret camera.
Judge Warby rejected the media’s request to hand over the video, but left the door open for Frederick and Amanda to release it “if they so choose.”
Frederick Barclay said that the public interest in the video outweighs any privacy concerns and called for legislation to outlaw such recordings.
“I am putting this video evidence forward as a graphic demonstration of how easy it is to spy on people in public places,” Frederick said in a statement. “I do not want anyone else to go through the awful experience of having their personal and private conversations listened to by scores of strangers.”
Alistair, Aidan, Howard and Andrew Barclay, all from David’s side of the family, learned of Frederick and Amanda’s negotiations with prospective buyers of the Ritz from 94 hours of audio recordings and 1,000 separate conversations captured over a period of several months, Hefin Rees, Frederick and Amanda’s lawyer, told a London two weeks ago.
“He is a man who is now left to contemplate his nephews’ betrayal and a father who has witnessed the prejudicial treatment of his daughter by her cousins,” Rees said.
The recordings allowed the nephews to learn of a 1.3 billion-pound offer made by Saudi Arabia-based fund Sidra Capital for the hotel, Rees said. At the time, the two sides of the family were conducting separate negotiations.
The hotel was eventually sold by David’s side of the family to a private Qatar investor. Filings show the new owner of the Ritz is Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri, a 40-year-old businessman and the brother-in-law of Qatar’s ruler.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.