Hannah McKay/Portal
Prince Harry returned to the UK for a court appearance in June.
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 published by MGN about Prince Harry used unlawful information gathering methods such as hacking voicemail messages and using private investigators.
A total of 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 regarding the other 18 articles did not stand up to careful analysis.”
The Duke of Sussex sued the British newspaper group that publishes The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, along with three other plaintiffs, alleging that its journalists illegally intercepted his voicemails and used other illegal means over a period of about 15 years.
Prince Harry described his victory against MGN as “a great day for truth and responsibility” in a statement read out to the court in London by his lawyer David Sherborne.
“The court has found that all three Mirror Group newspaper titles (The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The People) have engaged in regular and widespread unlawful and criminal activity for more than a decade,” the 39-year-old said. said the old king.
Prince Harry called on the financial regulator, the Metropolitan Police and law enforcement agencies to “do their duty to the British public and investigate and bring charges against the company and those who broke the law.”
He also called for a “free and honest press” in the UK and worldwide, saying that “anything less poisons the wellbeing of a profession on which we all depend.”
He added: “Today’s verdict is a confirmation and vindication. 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.”
The prince's lawyers said he was unable to provide his testimony in person due to the court's “short notice.”
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 on the witness stand in more than 130 years when he appeared in court 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 (NGN) and Chron publisher Associated Newspapers Limited. NGN publishes the Sun and formerly produced News of the World, but was folded in 2011 over its own phone hacking scandal.
This is a developing story and will be updated.