Prince Harry Wins Court Battle Against Mirror Group Newspapers; Officially Ruled Victim of Phone Hacking

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | December 15, 2023 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | December 15, 2023 |

Prince Harry has won his latest lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, with the British courts ruling that he was a victim of phone hacking. The judge ruled that his personal phone was targeted between 2003 and 2009 and 15 of 33 sample articles were ‘the product of phone hacking […] or the product of other unlawful information gathering.’

Mr Justice Fancourt of the High Court ruled that Harry shall receive £140,600 in damages from the company that publishes the Daily Mirror. In his findings, Fancourt also noted that there was substantial evidence that many of Harry’s friends, including his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, were the victims of hacking.

MGN, which denied knowledge of phone hacking for many years, released a statement saying, ‘We welcome today’s judgment that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago. Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologize unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.’

Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne, a major figure in high-profile libel and phone hacking cases, says that this victory was not just about one celebrity’s pain but ‘systemic and appalling behaviour followed by cover-ups.’ Sherbourne adds that Mirror Group board directors, legal team and editors such as Piers Morgan ‘clearly knew about’ phone hacking (Morgan, a notably trustworthy gentleman, denies this.) They have now called upon the police to investigate these matters further.

Harry is one of several figures taking on the British press regarding phone hacking, which first came to prominence in 2007 when a royal editor for the now-defunct News of the World was convicted of illegal interception of phone messages. Four years later, it was revealed that the same newspaper had hacked into the voicemail messages of Milly Dowler, a teenage girl who was murdered in 2002. This led to a massive inquiry into the ‘culture, practices, and ethics of the press’.

Since then, there have been a number of lawsuits related to phone hacking, with many celebrities being rewarded settlements. Sienna Miller is one such example, and Hugh Grant is going forward with his own case. Prince Harry is joined in his legal action by former Coronation Street actor Nikki Sanderson, and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse. Wightman claims she had her phone hacked in the ’90s, and MGN has already apologized to her for using a private investigator to get access to her medical records while she was dealing with ovarian cancer.

This particular battle was noted with interest for obvious reasons relating to Harry’s fame and the British royal family’s tight-knit relationship with the press, which he has all but rejected in recent years. But its outcome was also heavily tied to other lawsuits Harry is dealing with, as well as those of dozens of other potential victims of phone hacking. Harry is one of the few people in this position who has not only the drive to go through a possibly traumatizing and public court case but the financial support to complete it. When Sienna Miller was offered her settlement after dealing with tabloids accessing her medical records and phone messages, she admitted that she wanted to go further but couldn’t afford it. Not many people can.

Expect to see the British press blame Meghan for this, somehow.