A UK judge ruled Friday that Prince Harry was a victim of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) journalists and awarded him £140,600 ($179,600) in damages. In 15 of the 33 sample articles submitted as evidence in his lawsuit against MGN, which publishes The Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, the high court judge ruled in favor of the Duke of Sussex.
Justice Timothy Fancourt stated that he had concluded that the newspapers engaged in “extensive” phone hacking of celebrities between 2006 and 2011, despite the fact that a public inquiry into the British press’s conduct was ongoing.
“I consider that his phone was only hacked to a modest extent, and that this was probably carefully controlled by certain people at each newspaper,” Fancourt said.
Prince Harry said in a statement read outside court by his lawyer that the ruling was “vindicating and affirming.”.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mirror Group Newspapers said: “Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologize unreservedly, have taken full responsibility, and paid appropriate compensation.”
Prince Harry became the first British royal in over a century to testify in court
When Harry, King Charles III’s younger son, testified in the trial, he became the first British royal in over a century to do so.
The last time a royal testified in court was in the 1890s when future King Edward VII testified in a slander trial.
During emotional testimony in which he relived upsetting episodes from his life, Harry, 39, accused the publisher of “industrial scale” phone hacking.
He claimed he had been subjected to relentless and distressing media intrusion his entire life.
According to the prince and several other claimants, the titles engaged in “illegal information gathering,” including intercepting phone voice mails, to write dozens of stories about him.
The Duke of Sussex, as he is also known, has filed a lawsuit against several tabloid media outlets, in addition to barrages of attacks on his family and the monarchy.
“I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned,” he said in his statement.
“But in light of today’s victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it’s a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues.”
Harry has long had a strained relationship with the press
MGN admitted to having “some evidence” of illegal information gathering, including for a story about Harry.
However, it denied voicemail interception and argued that Harry and the other claimants brought some claims too late.
Harry has long had a strained relationship with the press, blaming it for his mother, Princess Diana, dying in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
Allegations that tabloid journalists hacked into celebrities’ phones first surfaced two decades ago, sparking the Leveson inquiry into press ethics.
