Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
In a significant legal victory, Prince Harry has won his phone hacking lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, with the High Court awarding him over £140,000 ($180,000). This marks the first of several lawsuits brought by Prince Harry against British tabloids to go to trial.
Justice Timothy Fancourt found that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers over many years, with private investigators playing a crucial role in unlawfully gathering information. The judge noted that executives at the papers were aware of this practice and had covered it up.
The Duke of Sussex was awarded damages for 15 out of the 33 newspaper articles in question, which were deemed to result from unlawful information gathering, leading to the misuse of Prince Harry’s private information. In addition to compensatory damages, the judge included damages for the distress suffered by the duke and an additional sum for aggravated damages. The latter reflected the particular hurt and sense of outrage over the fact that two directors at Trinity Mirror were aware of the illegal activities but failed to intervene.
Justice Fancourt stated, “Instead of doing so, they turned a blind eye to what was going on and positively concealed it. Had the illegal conduct been stopped, the misuse of the duke’s private information would have ended much sooner.”
Prince Harry, who is the estranged younger son of King Charles III, had sought £440,000 ($560,000) as part of his campaign against the British media. His decision to pursue legal action marked a departure from the royal family’s historical aversion to litigation, making him the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court in over a century.
During his testimony in June, Prince Harry alleged that Mirror Group Newspapers had engaged in phone hacking on an industrial scale, involving journalists eavesdropping on voicemails and employing private investigators who used deception and unlawful means to gather information about him and other family members.
The judge, while acknowledging the widespread phone hacking, noted that Prince Harry tended to assume that everything published was the result of voicemail interception, which wasn’t entirely accurate. He clarified that Mirror Group was not responsible for all of the unlawful activity directed at the duke.
