Prince Henry, the youngest son of the British King Charles III. and the late Diana of Wales, won this Friday the lawsuit he filed against the Mirror group, which publishes several tabloids, for tapping his mobile phone to obtain exclusives about his private life. .
He High Court in Londonagreed with the Duke of Sussex, 39, on 15 of 33 newspaper articles that Enrique said were prepared on the basis of information obtained illegally between 2003 and 2009.
Although it is a partial victory, since it was for less than half of the articles, the prince must receive compensation of 140,600 pounds (163,096 euros), as judged by Judge Timothy Fancourt, of that civil court.
Duke – who lives in USA with his wife Meghan and their two children– launched legal proceedings against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – which publishes the “Sunday Mirror”, “Daily Mirror” and “Sunday People” newspapers – accusing it of using questionable practices such as wiretapping to obtain information and sell newspapers.
The monarch’s son testified in court last June, marking the first time in more than a hundred years that a member of the royal family had done so in court.
According to the judge, the articles “were the result phone tapping or proceeds from other illegal data collection.”
Although the compensation is modest, it reflects the damage the prince has suffered as a result of the Mirror’s actions, he added.
“I noticed that 15 out of 33 articles were rated a product of hacking your phone mobile phone or the mobile phones of his associates, or the product of other illegal data collection. “I believe that his phone was only hacked in a modest way and that it was probably carefully controlled by certain people at each newspaper,” the judge said as he read the verdict.
“However, since then it has happened occasionally from the end of 2003 to April 2009 (the date of the last article I reviewed). “In his evidence, the Duke was inclined to assume that everything published was the product of voicemail interception because phone hacking was widespread in the Mirror group at the time,” the judge noted.
“A great day for the truth”
After the verdict was announced, at the door of the court, lawyer David Sherbourne read a statement from the prince, who was not in court today.
“Today is a great day for truth and accountability,” the Duke of Sussex said through his lawyer.
The legal measure was based on the need to have a “free and honest press”, which is “responsible when necessary”, added the duke’s statement, which admitted that “the road to justice can be slow and painful”.
For his part, the spokesperson of MGN said that they welcome “sa satisfaction with today’s verdict, giving the company the clarity it needs to move forward on events that happened years ago. Where historical irregularities have occurred, we have apologized unreservedly, taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.
Despite this, Piers Morgan, one of the most well-known journalists in the United Kingdom and who ran the ‘Daily Mirror’ between 1995 and 2004, lashed out at Prince Harry, whom he says does not know how to recognize the truth and denied that he personally tapped or authorized the hacking of his mobile phone at the time.
Morgan, currently host at TalkTV, the judge mentioned in his decision, but he regrets that neither the lawyers of the various victims in this case nor the defense of MGN called him to testify during the trial to defend himself.
“I have never hacked a phone or asked someone to do it. nobody and nobody provided any real evidence that I did it,” he told the media.
Morgan, in whose show last September announced his resignation, the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, insisted that the testimony against him heard during the trial was from “old enemies” with grievances.
At a court appearance in June last year, the prince admitted that the tabloid’s actions to obtain exclusive content had caused him “paranoia” and “distrust” and had an impact on his life, from security to relationships.
The prince even accused the tabloids of being “incited hatred and harassment” in his private life in a written document.
Source: Panama America
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
