London CNN –
The Duke of Sussex was awarded 140,600 pounds ($179,000) on Friday after the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that he was the subject of “extensive” phone hacking attacks by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011.
Judge Fancourt ruled that 15 stories about Prince Harry published by MGN used unlawful information gathering methods such as phone hacking and the use of private investigators.
A total of 33 articles were submitted for review, but the judge ruled that fewer than half of the articles used unlawful information gathering.
The Duke of Sussex and three other plaintiffs sued the British newspaper group that publishes The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, alleging that its journalists hacked his phone and used other illegal means over a period of about 15 years Collect information about his life period.
In a statement, the 39-year-old king said: “Today is a great day for truth and responsibility.”
“The court has found that illegal and criminal activities have been carried out regularly and frequently across all three of the Mirror Group’s newspaper titles (The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The People) for more than a decade,” Prince Harry said.
“Today’s verdict is an affirmation and confirmation. I was told that if you kill dragons you get burned. But given today's victory and the importance of doing what is necessary for a free and honest press, it is a price worth paying. The mission continues.”
In a summary of his ruling, the judge said that the publisher began phone hacking in 1996 and that the practice from 2006 to 2011 at MGN “was still extensive during those years” but that the prince's phone was “hacked on only a modest scale.” became”. ”
An MGN spokesperson said the publisher welcomed the ruling, “which provides the company with the clarity it needs to put behind it the events that took place many years ago,” according to PA Media.
“We apologize unreservedly where historic misconduct has occurred.”
“I have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation,” the spokesperson added.
The prince became the first senior member of the British royal family to testify in more than 130 years when he appeared on the stand in June.
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MGN's lawyer, Andrew Green, subjected the king to forensic and detailed questioning, testing him on the details of his claims and occasionally leaving him struggling to remember parts of his written statement or to find evidence.
In June, Prince Harry told the court about the suffering the press caused him in his youth, saying the articles published by MGN played a “destructive role” in his youth.
The lawsuit is just one of several filed by the Duke of Sussex against major British newspaper publishers, including Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers and Chron publisher Associated Newspapers Limited.
This is a developing story and will be updated.