Prince Harry was victim of ‘extensive’ phone hacking, UK High Court rules

The Duke of Sussex was awarded £140,600 ($179,000) on Friday after the UK High Court ruled he was the subject of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011.

The Duke of Sussex was awarded £140,600 ($179,000) on Friday after the UK High Court ruled he was the subject of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011. Justice Fancourt ruled that 15 stories published about Prince Harry by MGN used unlawful information gathering methods such as hacking of voicemail messages and the use of private investigators. In all, 33 articles had been submitted for consideration, but the judge ruled “phone hacking was not the only journalistic tool at the time, and his claims in relation to the other 18 articles did not stand up to careful analysis.” The Duke of Sussex sued the British newspaper group, which publishes The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, alongside three other claimants and alleged its journalists illegally intercepted his voicemails and used other illicit means over a roughly 15-year period. Prince Harry described his win against MGN as “a great day for truth, as well as accountability,” in a statement read by his lawyer David Sherborne outside the court in London. “The court has ruled that unlawful and criminal activities were carried out at all three of Mirror Group’s newspaper titles (The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The People) on a habitual and widespread basis for more than a decade,” the 39-year-old royal said.